STUDENTS BANISHED AFTER DRUG INCIDENTS

Cambridge High School has excluded 13 and 14-year-old pupils for cannabis
use even though Education Ministry guidelines encourage schools to be
tolerant about experimenting with drugs.

Eight pupils were excluded on June 14, 16 and 28 for incidents on June 1 and
June 14.

Exclusion was introduced by the Education Ministry last year to replace
indefinite suspension for pupils under 16.

Principal Alison Annan said the pupils had been excluded after "a couple of
incidents involving cannabis . . . from using it to supplying it".

"The board and the staff won't tolerate drugs on the site and that's made
very clear to the students," Mrs Annan said.

The 900-pupil school indefinitely suspended 14 students for using cannabis
in 1996.

"You just can't teach kids who have been using dope," she said.

Police were informed of the incident and the children were dealt with
through the youth aid section.

Mrs Annan expected all the pupils to apply for the school's second chance
programme before the end of the year. If successful they could join their
classmates again.

Latest Education Ministry figures show there were 50 suspensions for
cannabis use in Waikato schools from April 1 until June 30 last year.

Ministry guidelines say exclusion should not be an immediate response,
especially to a single incident. The Education Review Office is conducting
its three-yearly review of the school this week. Area manager Ian Hill said
there was nothing unusual about the timing of the review.