ONE HEADACHE CURED

The punishment that Bossier Parish school officials imposed on 15-year-old
Amanda Stiles was excessive, considering the nature of her offense:
possession of an over-the-counter pain reliever.

That Advil tablet earned Amanda a one-year expulsion in accordance with the
school district's zero tolerance policy on drugs. State law requires
expulsion for possession of illegal drugs and controlled substances, but
the Bossier Parish system required it for any drug, from aspirin to heroin.

Greater scrutiny of the school system, prompted by this case, revealed that
other students had received lighter punishment for possessing illegal drugs.

Amanda's expulsion ended up being good medicine for the school district.
The School Board rewrote its rigid policy to allow school administrators to
use judgment in deciding how to handle cases like Amanda's.

But the new policy in itself did nothing for Amanda, who was languishing at
one of the district's alternative schools, where her mother said she was
worried about falling behind in her school work.

Fortunately, the School Board decided to lift her expulsion and allow her
to return to Parkway High School.

That was the right thing to do. It would have been a shame to force this
student to live with the consequences of a policy that the School Board
itself came to see as unreasonable.

She's no doubt learned a lesson about strictly adhering to the rules, but
school officials have learned a thing or two themselves.