Principals given leeway on expulsions

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

The Clark County School Board voted Thursday to give principals more leeway in deciding first-time offense punishments for students caught on campus with drugs or alcohol.

The prior policy called for mandatory expulsion for any student in possession of an illegal substance. Under the new regulation principals could choose to suspend the student, order them to complete a drug treatment program or recommend expulsion.

"If we trust a principal to run a school we should trust their judgement to consider individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis," said Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia. "Sometimes these situations are not black and white."

Edward Goldman, associate superintendent of alternative education services for the district, told the School Board prior to their vote that he had concerns about the new policy. Goldman said his office receives about 350 new drug-related cases each month and the majority involve first-time offenders.

"Kids aren't stupid; we usually don't get a second chance to catch them," Goldman said.

School Board member Sheila Moulton asked that the district staff provide the board with updates on the number of students disciplined for drug-related offenses in order to monitor whether principals are being too lenient on students.

If the number of cases takes a sharp dive or drops to zero "We'll know something is wrong," Goldman said.

The School Board also gave final approval Thursday to a stricter policy regarding students who bring over-the-counter drugs to school. Under the new policy, students who bring non-prescription medications to school without prior permission from their parents face a mandatory suspension pending an investigation.

Students who share those medications with others face the same penalty, regardless of whether they had parental permission.

There have been several instances in the past year of students overdosing or having allergic reactions to over-the-counter drugs provided to them by friends, Goldman said.