DRUG POLICY IS DUE FOR A REVIEW BY BOARD

It is encouraging to see the Escambia County School Board looking at ways to
amend the zero-tolerance policy on drugs. Finding ways to bring the use of
judgment back into the mix is welcome.

The new proposal by board member Gary Bergosh is certainly worth
considering. He would put a "safe harbor" provision into the policy.
Basically, it would protect students from expulsion if they voluntarily turn
drugs over to school officials.

If nothing else, it gives students who might have been caught up in a
situation not of their own making a place to turn. And while we expect that
such situations would be few and far between, it also opens up avenues for
students who might be guilty of bad judgment and who are looking for a way
out.

Today, a student who has a marijuana joint or a few pills in his or her
possession - and regrets accepting them or bringing them to school - would
be foolish to go to a teacher or administrator to turn them in - and ask for
help - because the reward would be automatic expulsion. The new policy would
at least allow such a student to approach school officials to ask for help
with the expectation that help - and not expulsion - is what they would get.

After all, the goal should be to help students who are using drugs to get
off them, not slam the door in their faces.

Still, the main flaw in the zero-tolerance policy is that it leaves no room
for evaluating guilt or innocence, much less tempering the punishment to fit
the crime. Is an otherwise good child and student who makes a bad decision
with a pill or some marijuana deserving of the same punishment as a student
who is dealing drugs?

Under zero tolerance, a student with a grudge against another could plant a
joint or a few pills in a student's backpack or locker, turn the student in
for drugs, and watch his or her academic future be threatened.

Also, the case of Teresa Elenz points out another problem. Her expulsion was
reversed by a hearing officer - but she missed more than a month of school
while the appeal played out. It is a mistake to impose the sentence before
the verdict can be rendered.

We understand the intent of the zero-tolerance policy. Drugs are a serious
concern in schools and with children. But policies that throw judgment out
the window and make every drug event, no matter how minor or how big, the
same in the eyes of the School District can create their own damage.