KALISPELL SCHOOLS STILL WORKING ON DRUG POLICY

'Gathering Clause' One of Big Issues

Kalispell school officials are still trying to rework the district's
chemical use policy after an incident last fall proved the rule
indefensible in court.

School board members reviewed the policy for the third time in recent
months at their regular meeting Tuesday.

One of the major issues deals with the policy's so-called "gathering
clause," which says students not only must refrain from using drugs,
alcohol and tobacco, but also must not be present anywhere illegal
drugs are being used.

The clause was only recently added to the district's chemical use
policy, which is still under revision. It previously existed only as
part of the Flathead and Glacier high school handbooks.

Flathead High officials cited the handbook's gathering clause last
fall when four football players were removed from the team after
marijuana and paraphernalia were found in their car during a traffic
stop. One of the athletes, Connor Thomas, denied using the pot or
owning the paraphernalia, but his presence in the car violated the
gathering clause.

District Judge Katherine Curtis ordered Thomas be reinstated to the
team after his mother, Mary, sued the school district. Curtis also
questioned the legality of the gathering clause.

The lawsuit has since been dismissed, but that hasn't stopped
district staff and trustees from trying to rework the policy.

Now the policy says students "shall not attend gatherings or
functions where prohibited substances or chemicals are being used
illegally." Students who find themselves at such a function must leave.

Some board members wondered whether a key word should be inserted
into the policy so it reads students "shall not knowingly attend"
gatherings where illegal drugs are being used.

Attorney Jeff Hindoien, who was at the meeting, said he was
comfortable with "the knowingly piece" being addressed at individual
school sites as issues arise.

"You may have kids physically at a building or house where they
didn't know" illegal activity was going on, he said. "It can happen,
and there's got to be a little leeway."

Trustee Jack Fallon said he wondered if leeway could exist at the
administrative level with such an absolute policy.

"Right now we're absolute. It doesn't give any discretion to
administration," he said.

Hindoien said he thought there was room for administrative discretion
even with the strictly worded policy.

"I think frankly it sends a better message from the board to the
participants to say don't do it," he added.

Mark Dennehy, Glacier High School's activities director, said the
schools do have the necessary flexibility to deal with students who
may not have known about substance abuse at an event they attended.
Administrators can take certain variables into account, such as the
length of time a student was at a place where illegal activity was
taking place, or their knowledge of the illegal actions.

Generally those factors become clear over the course of
administrators' investigation, and considering those variables allows
for a wide range of potential consequences, from no punishment to
removing a student from the activity, Dennehy said.

"The knowingly piece comes through investigation," he said.