Bossier Advil Case

BOARD OKS DISCRETION IN PUNISHMENTS

Bossier Parish school system officials will notify principals that they
aren't required to expel students with over-the-counter medications when
school system employees return to work Jan. 5.

The School Board on Thursday voted unanimously to uphold committee
recommendations aimed at more flexibility in the punishment for students
caught with non-prescription medications at school. The expulsion of
Parkway High School sophomore Amanda Stiles for having Advil in her purse
created a national outcry over the district's zero-tolerance policy and
punishment.

Superintendent Ken Kruithof said system officials also will start reviewing
the circumstances of students expelled for that offense when they return to
work after the Christmas holiday.

But first, they have to figure out who those students are. Kruithof has
said repeatedly that officials don't note a difference between illegal,
prescription and non-prescription pills found on students.

"What I want to make sure we do is a thorough job," Kruithof said after the
meeting Thursday.

From the start of school in August through early December, 18 students
were attending the system's alternative school because of possession of
"pills," according to a report provided to the Times after an open records
request seeking details on seizures of over-the-counter medications and the
punishments imposed in those situations.

School system attorney Jon Guice on Thursday denied a second request, this
time for access to discipline reports so a reporter could compile
information about cases involving pills.

District 3 board member George Finck said it shouldn't be difficult for
system officials to determine which students were expelled for
non-prescription medication possession.

"I think they can find that very easily," Finck said. "Each one that's
there (at the alternative school), it's got to be on that (discipline) form."

The forms include a checklist of offense types that are standard across the
state and a remarks section in which teachers or principals can provide
more information about the situation leading to a discipline action.

School system officials will decide whether to return the expelled students
to their regular school short of a full year of expulsion.

The board will return to the over-the-counter medication policy as early as
January when assistant superintendent D.C. Machen presents information on
how the board could change discipline procedures to provide principals
guidance on handling individual cases.