THOMASTON TEEN WINS CHALLENGE TO EXPULSION FOR OFF-CAMPUS POT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The Thomaston School Board should not have expelled a
student for possession of marijuana off school grounds, the Connecticut
Supreme Court ruled Monday. The landmark decision also gives guidance on how
future cases should be handled.

The high court said a student can only be expelled for an off-campus action
that "markedly interrupts or severely impedes the day-to-day operation of a
school," and not merely because the student's action violated school policy.

The court also ruled in the case of Kyle Packer that public education is a
basic right that cannot be taken away from a student without due process.
The court said the school district did not give adequate warning that a
student could be expelled for such an incident.

"We do not mean to pin any medals on the plaintiff or condone his
destructive conduct in any way," Chief Justice Robert J. Callahan wrote for
the court. "Moreover, we recognize that he is probably a thorn in the side
of the administration and that his conduct poses an all too familiar, and
difficult, problem for school administrators.

"The school expulsion statute, as applied to these set of facts, however, is
simply too vague to be constitutionally enforceable," Callahan said.

Packer's lawyer, William A. Conti of Torrington, said the ruling was "a
terrific victory for Kyle and a terrific victory for students everywhere."

"A war on drugs does not have to be a war on the Constitution. People have
rights. An education is guaranteed in the Constitution," Conti said.

Packer was a 17-year-old senior at Thomaston High School in September when
he was charged with possession of marijuana. The arrest came off school
grounds and after school hours.

A Connecticut State Police trooper stopped Packer's car in Morris because
Packer was not wearing a seat belt. The trooper saw a marijuana cigarette in
the car's ashtray, and a search of the car turned up two ounces of marijuana
in the trunk.

The school's student handbook included an anti-drug policy and stated that
students may be expelled for off-campus actions. State law allows students
to be expelled for off-campus activities that "are seriously disruptive of
the educational process."

The school board decided to expel Packer for a semester and bar him from
extracurricular activities for the rest of the school year. The board argued
that Packer's actions met the criteria for expulsion because his brother and
a former student who had been involved with distributing drugs in the past
were present at the time of the arrest.

Teachers had also asked for a response to Packer's arrest, school leaders
said in justifying the expulsion.

Packer appealed to Litchfield Superior Court and won a temporary injunction
that allowed him to return to school while the case made its way through the
courts. Litchfield Judge Walter M. Pickett ruled the state law about
off-campus expulsions was unconstitutionally vague.

The Thomaston School Board then appealed to the state's highest court. The
justices found that the law was clear enough, but said that it was applied
to Packer's case in an unconstitutional manner.

Specifically, the court ruled the law does not give school boards the power
to define "seriously disruptive of the educational process." Rather, schools
should follow the Legislature's definition of the term.

By researching legislative history, the Supreme Court said expulsions could
be ordered for such disruptive conduct as a telephoned bomb threat, or
threatening to harm a teacher or student while off-campus.

Thomaston School Superintendent George Counter said school leaders tried to
make their decisions based on the best interests of the 450 students in
grades 7 through 12.

"What might be seriously disruptive in Thomaston might not be seriously
disruptive in Bridgeport or Hartford," Counter said.

Leaders of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, which had
sided with the Thomaston school board in the case, had not yet reviewed the
ruling and could not comment on it.

Association Executive Director Robert Rader, however, expressed concern
about any action to limit local school boards' authority to expel students,
especially in cases involving violence and safety.

"Any change of law diminishing the authority of school boards in questions
of this area is cause for concern," Rader said.

Packer graduated this spring and plans to attend the University of
Connecticut in the fall, said his mother, Jane Packer. He was sentenced to
16 hours of community service for the criminal charges.

"My husband and I did not do this because we did not think Kyle did anything
wrong," Mrs. Packer said. "We just thought that what the school board did
was way out of line."

A lawyer for the school board did not respond to a request for comment.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett