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Phoenix students will vote on recall By Chris Bristol PHOENIX � Election Day will come early for Phoenix High School students, who will get a chance to conduct their own experiment in democracy that goes beyond the usual popularity contest. Phoenix-Talent school officials Thursday confirmed that enough signatures had been gathered to force a recall election in the case of student body president Keanon Ferguson, who was reinstated by court order after school officials stripped him of his title for possession of drugs. The vote will be held Wednesday. "We�re doing it the way we always do student elections," said schools Superintendent Dave Willard. The difference in this case is that students won�t be choosing one candidate over another. Instead, their votes also will measure their attitudes about drugs and the extent of a public figure�s personal accountability. School officials stripped Ferguson of his title over the summer, after he was caught on campus in June with a small amount of marijuana and a glass pipe in his pocket. A campus security officer also found drug paraphernalia in Ferguson�s car. Ferguson�s father sued the school district, leading to a court battle that now depends on the outcome of the recall vote. In a controversial ruling, Jackson County Judge Phil Arnold said administrators had no authority to punish Ferguson, 18, beyond the standard five-day suspension for a first-time drug offense, because the school�s rules did not address wrongdoing by elected student leaders. School officials said the Oregon Supreme Court earlier this week refused a request for an emergency hearing on the matter. According to the Phoenix High School student constitution, only students may recall elected student leaders. Willard said a student group called Kids Against Substance Abuse collected enough signatures � about 180, or 20 percent of enrollment � to force a vote. The election will be held mid-day Wednesday, right after students watch a video on closed-circuit TV (the school has monitors in every classroom) featuring campaign speeches by Ferguson and a student supporting the recall. Willard said school officials decided on the video format in lieu of an election assembly. He confirmed that Ferguson was not allowed to give a speech at the Homecoming pep rally two weeks ago, the day after the court-ordered reinstatement. "It wasn�t the appropriate situation," Willard said, "and the assembly was already planned out." If students don�t recall Ferguson, the school district plans to ask the Oregon Court of Appeals to expedite an appeal of Arnold�s ruling. The rationale is that a reversal would be too late if it comes after the school year ends. But if students do recall Ferguson, the dispute would be rendered moot in the eyes of the court and the school district would be not be able to pursue an appeal. School officials, including board members, have mixed feelings about the recall. They feel Arnold�s ruling sets a bad precedent that undermines the authority of educators, and they want it reversed. If the judge�s ruling stands, warned school board Chairman Craig Prewitt, "schools in Oregon will be so busy rewriting their student handbooks that they will no longer have the time to teach." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.