SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS ARE DOWN

The number of suspensions in Abbotsford schools is down again, and
officials hope a proposed drug policy may help bring some of those numbers
even lower.

During Monday night's school board meeting, assistant superintendent Kevin
Godden noted there were 915 suspensions handed out in 2003-2004, down from
990 the year before and 967 in 2001-2002.

Some of the challenges school officials face, said Godden, are drugs and
fighting among students.

He notes it is timely that the board is looking at a comprehensive drug
strategy, and hopes it will reduce the number of times students are
suspended for involvement with drugs.

Last year, there were 135 suspensions handed out for drug issues.

Other problem areas include fighting, with 171 suspensions; defiance, with
167 suspensions; and harassment, with 96 suspensions. That category
includes incidents of bullying.

Incidents of alcohol and weapons jumped last year, with 60 alcohol-related
suspensions, up from 31 in 2002-2003 and 12 the year before. Last year,
there were 29 weapons suspensions, up from 15. Most weapons incidents
involved pocket knives.

The school trustee behind a proposed drug strategy is hoping to expedite
approval of the policy, which could see drug-sniffing dogs in school.

Uulstje De Jong noted he approached the school board about a comprehensive
drug strategy a year before he was elected trustee in November 2002.

"Here we are, three years later, and we still don't have it," he said.

He also pointed out that there had already been a lot of "stakeholder"
input into the proposed policy.

Instead of sending out the policy for stakeholder input until Jan. 1, 2005
and bringing the policy to a public board meeting later that month, De Jong
served a notice of motion Monday that he wanted the policy to be up for
debate by the board at their next meeting on Nov. 22.

A copy of the current proposed policy has not been released, but in June,
the document stated that an effective drug strategy would include
prevention, intervention and rehabilitation.

The policy listed a number of prevention programs that could be used at
different age levels.

Intervention included a provision for principals and vice principals to
conduct random locker searches to check for intoxicating substances, and
the searches could include the use of drug detection dogs.

Any person using, marketing or distributing an intoxicating or controlled
substance will be subject to a wide range of disciplinary actions,
including search and seizure and the possibility of criminal charges.

A first offence could result in a three to five day school suspension, and
a second offence would result in a student having a board of review hearing
(the highest level in the school system) and could be suspended indefinitely.

After both offences, the student will be required to complete an
intervention program.

A third offence could result in expulsion.