MANY PROTEST EXPULSIONS OF STUDENTS CAUGHT WITH CAFFEINE PILLS

Complex Situation Made Decision Hard

COLLINSVILLE Several parents, teachers, and friends crowded into the Unit
10 School Board meeting room Monday night to protest against the expulsion
of two junior high school girls last week.

Four girls at North Junior High School were found with varying amounts of
three drugs - NoDoz caffeine pills, Aleve pain reliever and a prescription
drug for acne.

Two students were pulled from the school by their parents, and two were
expelled by the board.

Dan Burton, a Collinsville parent of two, told the board that if children
can be expelled for having caffeine pills at school, then all forms of
caffeine should be banned.

"If the school board believes that caffeine is harmful, then the board must
remove all caffeine from the schools including the soda vending machines,
chocolate milk, candy bars, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and coffee
from the teachers' lounge," Burton said.

Burton also stated that the form in which caffeine is found is irrelevant,
whether it be pills or candy.

"People I've talked to thought the expulsions were ridiculous," he said.
"The crime just didn't fit the punishment. These kids have been kicked out
of school and the lesson they have learned is that the substance of
chemical compounds is more important than the substance of their education."

Board member Mike Foley disagreed, saying that the decision had been
gut-wrenching.

"There is so much more to this story than we as Board members have been
allowed to say," Foley said. "At first I was leaning towards more leniency
towards the students, but as we learned more information, that decision
became more difficult.

"Anytime you have to possibly expel a student, that is a gut-wrenching
dilemma. We are there to give them (students) the greatest education we
possibly can with the means at our disposal, and we don't make those
decisions without a lot of soul-searching and thought."

Foley was one of four board members to vote in favor of the expulsions on
Feb. 8. The others included Board Members Jeanne Piesbergen, Bill Ellis and
Gary Kusmierczak. Scott Penny cast the lone no vote. Don Davinroy was
absent and Board President Virgil Kassing did not vote on the issue.

Money, Pills Exchanged

The case began on Jan. 28 when officials reported seeing what appeared to
be an exchange of money and pills in the band room.

An adult hall monitor reported the incident, which lead to the search of
the four girls.

Unit 10 has had a zero-tolerance drug policy for several years. Under that
policy, legal, over-the-counter drugs, including NoDoz and Aleve and other
pain relievers, are treated the same a controlled substances - like
marijuana and other drugs.

The policy states that any student found to possess, be under the influence
of, or buy or sell any drug is automatically suspended for up to 10 days.

The student is then entitled to a hearing with the school board.

Four separate hearings were scheduled between Feb. 4 and 8, between school
administrators, parents, and witnesses in connection to the incident to
determine further disciplinary action.

The board gave the two girls who had not been pulled from school the
maximum allowable sentence - expulsion for the remainder of the school year.

A Mother Comments

The two students who were removed from the school before the expulsion
hearings, Katie Thiel and Roxane Reeves, attended the meeting.

Christine Reeves, mother of Roxane Reeves, told the Board that her daughter
should be in school and not out running the streets or at home watching
television.

She is unsure how she will educate her daughter for the remainder of the
school year.

"I am a single mother on a fixed income," Reeves said. "My husband was
killed six years ago while on active duty in the Air Force, and our life
has been in turmoil ever since. I have no family in this area. I just
didn't need this right now."

She was upset that one of the four girls had been allowed to go to the
restroom before she was searched on the morning of Jan. 28.

"The person responsible for all of this was allowed to go to the bathroom
and dump whatever pills she had on her before she was searched. Isn't that
some kind of crazy justice?" questioned Reeves.

"I'm a taxpayer, and my taxes are paying for prisoners in jail to get more
education than my daughter is getting," she said. "We're paying for
prisoners to get their GEDs and college degrees and drug counseling and
rehabilitation, and our school kids get the street."