BOE DELAYS VOTE ON CHANGES TO STUDENT DISCIPLINARY CODE

The state Board of Education postponed voting on proposed changes to
the student discipline code yesterday after hearing from a dozen
adults who opposed stringent changes in the rules of conduct.

The proposed changes to Chapter 19 of the state administrative rules
would permit random searches of student lockers, define physical
contact including "consensual touching of body parts" as disorderly
conduct and ban a wide variety of goods including intoxicating
substances, gum and cell phones.

"These rules set children up as guilty until proven innocent," said
Pamela Lichty, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii. "Drug
searches are not a preventative program. The rules set up a
totalitarian regime ... at a time in the lives of youths when it's
important to feel connectedness with school."

Kat Brady, coordinator of the Community Alliance on Prisons, said,
"Rather than punitive practices, misconduct should be addressed
through restorative practices, with the point of understanding the
impact of your actions. By making so many rules, you promote criminal
behavior. For example, if you ban candy, you're just encouraging a
kid to hide it."

Attorney Jo-Ann Adams said, "You are conveying a form of criminal
status on youths ... as is done with the homeless -- behavior that is
lawful in the rest of society, yet on the school grounds, if you're a
student, it's criminal."

Sinclair Ferguson, speaking for University of Hawaii law professor
Jon Van Dyke, told the board that random locker searches would be illegal.

"It violates Hawaii and federal law, which require a particularized
suspicion before search," Ferguson said. "It would open the way for
officials to read diaries, search items sensitive to students,
condoms and tampons."

Whitney White, owner of Interquest Detection Canines of Hawaii, told
the board members that she has been hired by private schools and
businesses to have her golden retriever search for drugs, alcohol and firearms.

"We should be supporting the students who want to be in a safe
atmosphere at school," she said. White said a pilot program on a Maui
campus led to "reduction in other behaviors such as smoking in
bathrooms" while the dog was present.

Board members came prepared to vote on the Chapter 19 package, which
has been in the works for three years. But Chairman Garret Toguchi
postponed the matter until June 18 after the discussion bogged down
on a list of amendments proposed by member Kim Coco Iwamoto.

Board members supported one Iwamoto amendment, indicating they might
not expand on the list of what constitutes "contraband," particularly
cell phones.