TWO FAMILIES TO SUE OVER SCHOOL RULING

MANTECA -- Legal wrangling is expected to continue in the case of three
high school students disciplined for allegedly smoking marijuana.

The parents of Adam Zeiher and David Perry said Thursday they will sue, a
day after Manteca Unified School District trustees decided a court ruling
in the case of Travis McPherson doesn't apply to the two other boys.
"People have told me they can't believe it has gone to this extreme," said
Rebecca Zeiher, Adam's mother. "The judge already said (the disciplinary
action) was an unlawful act."

Some thought San Joaquin County Judge K. Peter Saiers settled the matter
last week, when he ordered McPherson reinstated at Sierra High School.

McPherson, Zeiher and Perry were transferred to other schools after a May
25 incident in which they admitted smoking marijuana during a lunch break.

The boys claimed their confessions were coerced by school officials, who
never found any marijuana.

In a 4-3 decision Wednesday night, school trustees decided against
appealing the court's decision, but left the transfers of Zeiher and Perry
in place.

With no other way to appeal at the school board level, the Zei-her and
Perry families likely will incur thousands of dollars in legal expenses to
get the students reinstated.

"I don't understand it," Rebecca Zeiher said. "Someone should be asking the
school district how much it is costing the taxpayers."

The Zeiher and Perry families have hired Lodi attorney Thomas Driscoll, who
represented McPherson. Rebecca Zeiher was unsure when the lawsuit would be
filed.

School trustees declined to give their reasoning for rejecting the
families' appeal. Trustees Marilyn Asher, Paul Gutierrez, John Holbrook and
Evelyn Moore voted against reinstating the students. Manuel Medeiros, Nancy
Teicheira and Nellie Zavala and backed the families.

Asher said there's a sound reason for the decision, referring to a one-page
district statement.

The statement read: "The court's ruling in the McPherson case was limited
to one judge's views of facts which were particular to that case." That
case "did not, in any way, invalidate the district's policies and
procedures as they apply to other students."