POTTSGROVE EXPELS 7 STUDENTS IN 1 NIGHT

LOWER POTTSGROVE -- Six months into the academic year, the
Pottsgrove School District has already expelled 14 students -- seven
of them Tuesday night.

Throughout all of the last academic year, the district expelled 12 students.

Assistant Superintendent Joseph Bender said three of those expelled
Tuesday night were high school students whose expulsion was the
result of violations of the district's drug policy.

On Feb. 8, lockers, classrooms and cars in the Pottsgrove High
School parking lot were searched and, at the time, school officials
said one student was charged.

Of the four others expelled Tuesday, three were high school students
and one was a middle school student.

The names of the students expelled were not released to the public
in order to protect their identities.

Although the law allows parents to request an open hearing on an
expulsion, it rarely happens.

All 14 of the Pottsgrove students expelled this year have been
enrolled in an alternative education program the district runs in
conjunction with the Pottstown School District, Bender said.

He said the costs of the teachers and program, borne at taxpayer
expense, are divided each year between the districts, based on how
many students each district contributes to the program.

John Armato, director of community relations for the Pottstown
School District, said this year three students have been expelled
from Pottstown schools.

Bender, whose pending retirement was recently announced, said he did
not know how to explain the high number of expulsions in Pottsgrove
this year. "If I knew the answer to that, I would be a very rich
man," he said.

The only explanations are the obvious ones, he said.

"Some of our students are making some very unwise decisions and we
also have some very alert students and staff in our schools," Bender said.

"Perhaps some things that previously used to go under the radar are
coming to light now, and once we're made aware of it, obviously, we
have to act on it," he said.