KEY SCHOOL EXPELS FIVE FOR POT USE ON COSTA RICA TRIP

Five students have been expelled from the Key School in Annapolis
after confessing they bought and smoked marijuana on a
school-sponsored Spring Break trip to Costa Rica. A sixth was
suspended for the rest of the school year after admitting drinking
alcohol there, school officials said yesterday.

The disciplinary action followed an investigation into rumors that
surfaced after the Feb. 17-25 trip. In all, 16 of the 21 students who
went on the trip violated some form of school policy. The ones who
weren't expelled or suspended are awaiting punishment for alcohol use
and curfew violations, said Marcella Yedid, head of the private school.

"We as adults can impart to young people that adversity sometimes
helps us grow in strength, wisdom and maturity," Mrs. Yedid said. "Our
statement, as strong as it is, is intended to promote that growth."

But many of the 200-plus parents at a meeting last night criticized
the punishments as too harsh and questioned how the four adult
chaperones were unaware of what happened. Others accused Todd Casey,
head of the Upper School, of duping their children into confessing.

"Did you consider the fact that this could ruin a child's life?" asked
one of the parents. "Some of these kids have gone to school here since
they've been toddlers, parents have invested hundreds of thousands of
dollars educating them. Who in this room has not done a foolish thing
in their life?"

Few of the expelled teens or their parents attended the meeting, which
came after extensive talks Saturday informing the families of the decision.

"No one got caught doing anything," said one parent of an expelled
student who wished to remain anonymous. "These are voluntary
confessions the school basically forced from the children."

Her son said he felt betrayed by the staff after he came clean.

"The headmaster continually decided to lie to us," he said. "From the
beginning he told us honesty is the best policy. At one point he told
us drinking and lying would make you worse off than smoking marijuana
and telling the truth. ... He told us he would not pressure us into
giving names, but on numerous instances he told us (other) students
would get off."

Mr. Casey told parents that he herded all of the kids who went on the
trip into a room and asked them to write accounts of their own
behavior, not others'.

"I said, 'I have some pretty specific knowledge of this and it's
important for you to be honest,' " he said. " 'You define yourself by
your decisions. As time goes on, I guarantee you I will learn more and
more about this and I don't want you to do something now that puts you
in a position later where we find out you were dishonest, because that
would be another serious violation.'

"I did say that students who had committed serious violations would
face disciplinary consequences. I was very clear about that. The
students wrote and I used those statements as the beginning of
conversations with them."

The students then appeared before a disciplinary committee comprised
of faculty and students. That process took almost three weeks. The
rest of the 210 students in the high school and their parents were
notified yesterday.

By coincidence, The Capital published a student's diary of the trip in
yesterday's Teen Pulse section. The piece didn't have any references
to the drug or alcohol use, but described a trip full of sightseeing
excursions to beaches, waterfalls and dance clubs.

Mrs. Yedid said the school has a code of conduct that is signed by
students and parents, acknowledging the consequences if the rules are
broken.

"It's clearly spelled out in the beginning," she said.

Mrs. Yedid said the six students, who are no longer allowed at school
or to be involved in any school functions, will receive complete
transcripts for this year because more than 90 percent of their work
had been completed. The one student who was dismissed for an alcohol
violation will receive her diploma, but is not allowed to attend graduation.

One of the expelled students said the school's decision was political
and made to polish its reputation.

"If you have a school already considered a 'hippy school' because of
its liberal viewpoints, and people find out there were kids using
marijuana there, you will destroy its reputation," he said of the
private school, which charged a tuition of $18,385 this year for
grades 9-12. "They're fighting with Severn to get the sailing kids,
the well-to-do families in Annapolis. They needed to try to change
their reputation."

Not all parents were dismayed with the school's course of action.

"I'm very supportive of the Key School's faculty and staff and the
decision they made," said Alex McCrany, whose daughter attends the
high school but was not on the trip. "The students clearly broke
school policy and school rules in an environment that places
(everybody) at risk."

The school canceled its plans yesterday for Earth Day, and instead
devoted the entire school day to discussions and writing about the
administrators' decisions. There was a meeting attended by all of the
high school's students in the morning, followed by smaller group
sessions with academic advisers. They then met by grades and ended the
day with another group meeting.

"It was emotional, that's for sure," said Jaleesa Johnson, who went on
the trip but was not expelled. "There was a lot of crying, a lot of
anger, a lot of people trying to point fingers. The whole student body
is real shook up. I feel so worn out emotionally."

Mr. Casey said this incident will cause him to reevaluate the school's
future trips.