MONTEVALLO PUPIL'S MARIJUANA ARREST 'DISTURBING' BUT ATYPICAL, OFFICIALS SAY

Though they're disturbed, Shelby County school officials said they're
treating the recent arrest of a 10-year-old Montevallo Elementary
School student as an isolated incident rather than a sign that drugs
are infiltrating the county's elementary schools.

The fifth-grader was arrested April 14 in connection with marijuana
possession, school officials said. They said he is the youngest
student to have been disciplined for a drug-related offense in Shelby
County schools.

Following his arrest, the student was taken to juvenile detention. He
will finish the school year at the Shelby County Alternative School,
said Cindy Warner, public relations supervisor for county schools.

That a 10-year-old brought drugs to school hasn't prompted a renewed
emphasis on drug prevention at the elementary school level, said Ken
Mobley, student services coordinator for county schools. Nevertheless,
"it still is disturbing and it will not be tolerated," Mobley said.

Warner declined to say where the student got the marijuana. Montevallo
police would not comment on the incident, but have, along with school
officials, completed an investigation.

The boy's arrest came after two students told the assistant principal
that another student had showed them marijuana. "The principal
questioned the boy, he admitted having it and turned it over to her,"
Warner said.

She said the boy is the youngest student at the Alternative School.
"Certain measures are in place to make sure that he doesn't have
frequent access, and certainly never any unsupervised access, to any
of the high school kids there," she said.

The situation is unusual for Shelby schools, Warner said. "It's
obviously not every day that you have an elementary school-aged child
in possession of drugs."

But Sheriff Chris Curry said the news doesn't come as a shock to him.
While early research on drug use showed children beginning to
experiment around age 12, more recent research shows that age to have
dropped to 9, he said.

Curry said he believes law enforcement and schools are doing a good
job addressing student drug use. "It's an everyday battle," he said.
"I'm proud of the Board of Education. They are not putting their head
in the sand."