GOOD JUDGMENT: PUNISHMENT MUST FIT RULE-BREAKING

No school official wants to worry about having students show up at school
with weapons or illegal drugs. As a result, they sometimes push for
no-tolerance policies with harsh and one-size-fits-all consequences for
students who break the rules.

That doesn't sound so bad, unless presented with a case like a recent one
in Mustang. A middle school student was found with prescription hormone
pills in her possession in violation of school rules. Initially, the girl,
who takes the medication to treat an ovarian disease, was suspended for a year.

The good news is the girl ended up serving only a five-day suspension, and
school officials consented to remove the incident from her school records.
The consequence acknowledges she broke school rules by having the
medication but also recognizes the violation was unintentional.

The odd twist to this ongoing story is that Mustang's policy wasn't nearly
as rigid as school officials first implied. It allows for a case-by-case
determination based on the circumstances surrounding the rules violation.

"It has never been a zero-tolerance policy," school attorney Phyllis Walta
told The Oklahoman's Sarah Kahne. "Under the current policy, they (school
administrators) have discretion."

Under that interpretation, we have no problem with the policy. Nor do we
have qualms with policy that requires prescription medication to be checked
in at the school office. It's a reasonable measure designed to keep
students safe, and those who break that rule should be subject to
reasonable punishment.

Walta said she would train school officials on the policy's details. That's
a good idea. If the policy is broad enough to allow administrative
discretion, we suggest officials start using it.