JUDGE LETS 3 IN MARIJUANA CASE STAY AT FOOTHILL HIGH FOR NOW

Schools: The move is temporary while the court weighs the evidence of their
possible drug use.

Three student athletes accused of smoking marijuana will get to stay
at Foothill High School until Christmas break after a judge Wednesday
temporarily blocked their forced transfer to other schools.

A Dec. 29 hearing in Orange County Superior Court will determine
whether Britton James Pierson, Jason Matthew Greenberg and Robert
Douglas Koster - all varsity athletes accused of smoking marijuana
during lunch break - can stay at Foothill.

Judge John C. Woolley said the issues at stake include the integrity
of the Tustin Unified School District's handling of the investigation
and the students' constitutional right to due process.

"I'm concerned with the adequacy of the record," said Woolley,
referring to the evidence presented by the school district.

The school district reassigns students to other schools after the
first offense of drug use.

Two other students accused of smoking marijuana as part of the same
investigation are not involved in the lawsuit.

The three students' parents appealed a Nov. 24 school board decision
to transfer the youths to other schools - Koster and Pierson to
Hillview High, and Greenberg to Tustin High.

On the advice of their attorney, David Shores, the students have not
gone to their assigned schools since the Thanksgiving holiday.

Shores objected to the assignments to Hillview High, a continuation
school where Koster and Pierson would receive a "substandard education."

Spencer Covert, an attorney for the school district, objected to the
characterization.

Covert said the students will not be allowed to participate in
extracurricular activities before winter break starts Dec. 18.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady