'ZERO TOLERANCE' IS TOO RIGID

Schools should be safe havens where students can concentrate on learning and
not worry that the pupil in the next seat has a knife or gun or drugs.

To ensure the safety of the campus, a number of school districts have
imposed "zero tolerance" policies, suspending or expelling those caught with
prohibited substances or weapons. But Orange County school officials more
than once have demonstrated that tough policies need to be leavened with
common sense. Unfortunately, it has been the to-the-letter enforcement of
the policies that has demonstrated the need for leeway.

The latest incident occurred this month when a 10-year-old girl at Viejo
Elementary School in Mission Viejo was suspended for bringing a 3-inch
cap-gun toy on a key chain to school.

At 3 inches long, the toy is not a full-scale model of anything, yet it's
enough for a suspension. Shrinking a working gun to 3 inches would test the
mettle of the CIA and KGB. It could hardly be more clear that the toy was
just that, a toy.

But Capistrano Unified School District bans imitation firearms, and
officials ruled that rules are rules. They said a mere one-day suspension
was lenient. Wrong.

True, it's better than the case four years ago in which a Buena Park
5-year-old found a disposable razor blade on the street and showed it to
others on his school bus. The driver reported him to school officials. They
promptly transferred the miscreant to another school. It's difficult to
understand how a 1-inch razor blade in the hands of a 5-year-old is grounds
for transfer. Pencils can be weapons. Common sense says they belong on
campus, so they stay.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has decided no longer to expel
automatically youngsters who bring gun-like objects to school. For those in
kindergarten through third grade, cases will be decided individually. That's
sensible.

Newport-Mesa officials did go off the tracks a year ago in transferring a
student who police said had a pipe and marijuana residue in his car when
they stopped him off campus. The student was not charged with anything, yet
the district ordered him to switch schools only months before his
graduation. A judge ordered him reinstated because he had not received a
hearing before the transfer. An appeals court declined to hear the case.

Schools have a difficult task and deserve support in protecting students.
But zero-tolerance policies are not always the answer.

In the Los Angeles community of Venice, the high school principal says guns
and other weapons are found at the school three or four times a year. Some
parents say that despite the zero-tolerance policy, drugs are available on
campus as well. As a result, Venice High has brought drug-sniffing dogs onto
the school grounds.

Blanket solutions seldom cure all problems. Young students especially need
to have their cases judged individually. In some cases stiff penalties may
be warranted, but common sense should rule.