SCHOOL DRUG POLICIES DIFFER

Gabe was an honor roll student at Milwaukee High School of the Arts
when he was caught in possession of marijuana. After a hearing at
Milwaukee Public Schools' central office, he was expelled.

Gabe's mother, Donna, was shocked. Gabe, 16, received a ticket for
marijuana possession from a Milwaukee police officer. He was not
referred to Children's Court and has no criminal record.

"He loved MHSA," said Donna, who asked that their last name be omitted
to protect her son's anonymity. "It's been really devastating getting
expelled. He's talked about suicide."

Milwaukee Public Schools officials declined to comment on the
student's case, but experts say policies on drug possession vary widely.

"In one district a student may have repeated offenses for drug
possession and still be in school, while in another, they could have
one offense and be expelled," said Nancy Dorman, an expert for the
Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

Nationally, "it's really all over the map," said Marsha Rosenbaum of
the San Francisco-based Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization
devoted to drug policy education. "It varies from locality to locality
and even within localities, from school to school."

Gabe lives in Waukesha and transferred from his public high school
there for the music program at the Milwaukee school. He also had been
caught with marijuana at the Waukesha school.

The punishment: a three-day suspension.

Had Gabe been caught a second time at Waukesha, his odds of being
expelled would have increased, said Jim Haessly, executive director of
student services for the Waukesha School District. But Haessly said
there are two-time offenders at the school who have not been expelled.

Minorities punished more often

Such differences in punishment can lead to inequities and long-term
consequences for students, Rosenbaum said. And low-income and minority
students may be more vulnerable to expulsion because their parents
"have less resources to fight expulsion."

State Department of Public Instruction statistics show that black
students were about twice as likely - and American Indian students
were four times as likely - as white students to be suspended or
expelled for drug-or weapon-related incidents for the 2001-'02 and
2002-'03 school years.

Department data show the total number of weapons/drug incidents has
soared, rising from 3,341 in 1998-'99 to 5,692 in 2002-'03. The
department does not break out drug incidents, but surveys of students
show they are increasingly less likely to carry weapons and more
likely to use marijuana.

>From 1993 to 2003, the percentage of Wisconsin students who said they
carried a weapon dropped from 9% to 5%, while the percentage saying
they used marijuana in the previous 30 days rose from 11% to 22%. The
statistics come from the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which
was conducted as part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's national survey.

Marijuana use rising

When the survey asked students if they've ever used marijuana, the
percentage grows to 38% of all Wisconsin students and 52% of all
students in Milwaukee. Past studies have shown the percentage for
Wisconsin is about the same as the national average.

"We have seen a significant increase in the use of marijuana,"
Janesville Superintendent Tom Evert said.

A 2002 district survey of Janesville students found that 48% of
seniors had smoked marijuana in the past year and 11% smoked daily.
Evert said the school system expels about 80 students a year, about
75% for possessing or selling marijuana.

Janesville now has random locker searches with the use of
drug-sniffing dogs. Students caught with marijuana have an expulsion
hearing and are usually given a second chance, but only if they agree
to a program of therapy and random drug testing. Students who refuse
or who get caught again usually are expelled.

Milwaukee Public Schools also hews a tough line.

Hughes George, director of student services, said any student found
with more than half a gram of marijuana (the equivalent of half of a
marijuana cigarette) automatically has to have an expulsion hearing.
If MPS officials had the record of Gabe's incident at Waukesha, the
odds of expulsion would have increased greatly.

Difference in policies

Other schools have less punitive policies.

The Beloit school system will suspend a student for first-time
possession but will not require an expulsion hearing. A first-time
user gets a minimum of a one-day suspension in the Muskego-Norway
school system and a five-day suspension at Shorewood High School.

Officials at Muskego-Norway and Shorewood schools say drug possession
cases are infrequent and that expulsions rarely occur.

"It's not just an automatic, punitive measure handed down," said Rick
Monroe, principal of Shorewood High School. "It's oftentimes looked at
as an opportunity to change a student's life around."

Haessly said there are firm consequences for every student violating
Waukesha school policies. Just the threat of expulsion can sometimes
turn a student around, he said.

"Probably for every kid we expel, there are two we don't," Haessly
said.

Most schools are tougher on students caught selling drugs, but
policies on this also vary widely, experts say.

Zero-tolerance policies

Nationally and statewide, the rise of a zero-tolerance policy toward
weapons and drug possession has led to an increase in expulsions, a
2001 DPI study notes. But the Drug Policy Alliance cites studies
showing that the zero-tolerance approach has not reduced marijuana use
by students.

Still, Paul Zettel, a health teacher at Riverside High School, said
that while tough policies such as the one at MPS may not deal with
underlying problems of student abusers, they do send a clear message
to students about pot use.

"They get caught, and they are done; they are out of there," he
said.

Gabe's mother said his expulsion was life-changing.

He is enrolled in Hazelton Clinic in Minnesota for drug rehabilitation
and is examining his options at schools, but Donna fears Gabe will
miss the unique environment of High School of the Arts.

"He played bass in the orchestra and the band at school," Donna said.
"It was a really stimulating environment for him."