15 STUDENTS SUSPENDED OVER PRESCRIPTION DRUG ALLEGATIONS

Whittle Springs Girls Could Face Expulsion

In what school officials are calling the largest drug-related disciplinary
action in memory, 15 students have been suspended from Whittle Springs
Middle School for possession of prescription drugs on school property in
violation of Tennessee's zero-tolerance statute, officials said.

The students -- who are all eighth-grade girls -- face one-year expulsions
if they are found guilty in disciplinary hearings under way this week, Knox
County schools spokesman Mike Cohen said.

A single incident Nov. 10 triggered the suspensions at the North Knoxville
school.

"Last Friday two students at Whittle Springs Middle School apparently
brought a variety of prescription drugs from home and passed them out to
their friends," Cohen said.

Cohen said Whittle Springs administrators acted swiftly when they received
reports the pair were distributing pills. He said the two girls at the
center of the probe apparently brought different medications to the school,
but he wouldn't say what specific drugs were found.

School officials identified 13 students who allegedly accepted the drugs,
which automatically put them in violation of the zero-tolerance law, Cohen
said. The 15 girls could be expelled for a calendar year if found guilty.

Cohen said school administrators couldn't recall a drug incident of similar
magnitude and wouldn't speculate on when to expect decisions from the
disciplinary hearings.

"We try to look at these on an individual basis," Cohen said. "These are 15
personal tragedies for the families."

If found guilty, the girls would have the right to appeal the verdict to
the school board. They also would have the right to ask Superintendent
Charles Lindsey for a modification of the sentence.

The school system has reduced sentences meted out under the zero-tolerance
policy before, Cohen explained, when serving the full sentence would force
a student to return to classes in the middle of a semester.

If the students are expelled, they will be ineligible for any alternative
education programs offered by Knox County schools, Cohen said.

"It kills us to put kids out of school," Cohen said, but "we are never
going to accept drugs on school property."