TEEN SURVIVES FIRST BRUSH WITH 'ZERO-TOLERANCE' POLICY

EDUCATION:
A judge allows the 18-year-old to remain in school until his March 17 hearing.

A Corona del Mar High School senior has won the latest round in a fight
against his school's "zero tolerance" drug policy,but educators say the
hard-nosed,increasingly popular philosophy probably is here to stay.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas ordered the
Newport-Mesa Unified School District on Tuesday to allow Ryan Huntsman to
stay enrolled at Corona del Mar until a March 17 court hearing to determine
whether the district acted properly when the student was suspended and
ordered transferred to another school.

Huntsman was an aspiring college student, a three-year golf team letterman
and a member of the school's yearbook staff when a Newport Beach police
officer caught him off campus last month with trace amounts of a substance
purported to be marijuana.

Huntsman was only cited for playing his car stereo too loudly, but police
sent a copy of the report to school officials. The Newport-Mesa Unified
School District decided without a hearing to suspend the 18-year-old for
five days and forcibly transfer him to a different school in accordance
with its zero-tolerance drug policy.

Huntsman took the district to court after he was prevented from
presenting evidence of a blood screen showing he had not ingested marijuana.

David Shores, an Irvine lawyer representing Huntsman, said the district
acted irresponsibly when it relied on the police report. No test have been
conducted to confirm whether the substance found was marijuana residue.

The issue is not the zero-tolerance policy, but whether the district
provided Huntsman due process before acting, Shores said.

Zero-tolerance school policies regarding weapons and drugs seem to be
prospering in these times, despite such instances where parents argue their
children are unduly victimized by the rules.

School officials say the philosophy - which calls for automatic expulsion,
suspension or transfer when students commit specified offenses - has
sharply reduced campus crime as well as incidents of drug and alcohol abuse
at events such as school proms.

"Most people are happy with the system except those parents whose kids get
caught doing something wrong," said Ron Wenkart, general counsel for the
Orange County Department of Education, which hears about 10 appeals each
year from students penalized under zero-tolerance policies.

The Huntsman controversy started at about 1:10 p.m. Feb. 18, when a Newport
Beach police officer stopped Huntsman's car on Vista del Oro and found a
marijuana pipe and a plastic bag allegedly containing trace amounts of the
drug in his glove box.

Huntsman had completed his classes for the day and stopped by his mother's
office and the office of a college counselor at the time he was stopped.
The bag and suspected marijuana, he said, belonged to a friend.

Huntsman gave school officials conflicting reports of his destination at
the time he was stopped. He provided a written statement that he was
driving home and a verbal statement that he was going to school to work on
the yearbook.

In either case, the district contends, Huntsman violated a strict policy
against possessing drugs while traveling to or from school or a school
function. He was ordered transferred to Newport Harbor High School, three
months short of his graduation.

Zero-tolerance policies are not a perfect solution, Newport-Mesa Interim
Superintendent Bob Francy said Tuesday. "But I think most high school
principals will tell you that student activities in this district no longer
are plagued with drug and alcohol problems."

Francy said that in contrast to earlier eras, "Kids come sober to the
dances. Alcohol and drugs tend not to be an issue, and most of us feel that
is attributable to zero tolerance."

Some administrators pointed to a recent national study that showed a drop
in crime on school campuses as further evidence that zero-tolerance
policies are effective.

State law stipulates that certain offenses by students carry a punishment
of mandatory expulsion: Brandishing a gun or knife, the sale of controlled
substances, and sexual assault or sexual battery.

The state "recommends' expulsion for another list of offenses: Causing
serious physical injury to another person except in self-defense,
possession of any knife, explosive or other dangerous object, unlawful
possession of any controlled substance, robbery, extortion, and assault on
a school employee.

Most other offenses fall under individual school district zero-tolerance
policies. As in Huntsman's case, most school district in Orange County
require that students be suspended and then transferred to another school
within the district when violations occur.

Wenkart said most Orange County districts have an appeals process that
begins with a three-member panel at the school level. A student then can
take his case to the assistant superintendent, then to the superintendent,
and then to the county level. At that stage, Wenkart said, the arbitrators
do not revisit the merits of the case but simply ensure that proper
procedures were followed. He said that lower-level decisions rarely are
overturned.

But on Tuesday, Huntsman nodded his head and grinned after Thomas announced
his decision. He plans to attend classes this morning.

"It would have been really awkward, just things like prom, grad night,
classes," Huntsman said of the prospect of suddenly transferring to another
high school.

"I didn't like the way they handled everything," he said. "I'm happy with
the decision. I'm going to be happy attending Corona again."

John Hayashida, an attorney for the district, argued that Huntsman would
not be harmed by attending Newport Harbor High School while the decision on
his transfer was pending in court.

In a motion opposing the proposed order reinstating Huntsman, Hayashida
enclosed a copy of the district's drug policy, which is posted in each
classroom. It states that any student possessing, using, buying or selling
drugs or alcohol on campus, to and from school, or any school function will
be transferred on a first offense. The second offense mandates expulsion
from the district.

"I'm disappointed in the decision," Hayashida said after the judge's
temporary order. "I think it's important the board policies be adhered to."

Huntsman told police and school officials that the bag and pipe belonged to
a friend. He declined to answer questions about the marijuana pipe, the bag
or his drug use after the court hearing Tuesday.