SCHOOL DISTRICT LOOKS AT NEW DRUG POLICY

Principals Would Be Given Option of Transferring a Student Who Is Caught
With Drugs on Campus.

Principal Mike Matthews of Malibu High School stands behind a new drug
policy that will be put before the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Board
this spring. Under the current policy, drug offenders are required to
transfer to another school in the district for a term. The primary revision
of the new policy will give principals the option of transferring the student.

Last spring, Laurel Schmidt, director of Student Services at SMMUSD,
organized discussions on drug policy with parents and faculty from the six
secondary schools in the district, prompted by their concerns about the
involuntary transfer of students.

"The feeling was this [involuntary transfer] was more disruptive to kids,"
Schmidt said.

Schmidt cited various reasons, including the distance between the two high
schools and that transfers interfered too much with the students' studies.

"I do like the idea of changing it," Matthews said.

Matthews cited the emotional and time-consuming nature of being transferred
and mentioned that many parents are against transfers. Matthews said he is
behind changing the policy, but is not pushing it. "At this point, the
district has it in their hands," he said.

Some hope the district keeps the existing policy, seeing involuntary
transfer as a positive.

"In some ways, the transfer is a new start," said Susie Spain, addiction
specialist and co-founder of Angels at Risk Foundation, an organization
that works closely with the schools.

"It wakes up the parents," she added.

And, more than anything else, Spain emphasized the importance of family
involvement. "We believe in the family philosophy," she said. "If the
family addresses the problem in a loving way, statistics show that teens
will embrace that support and make changes."

Family counseling is a part of the current drug policy, which mandates 12
hours of family counseling and 12 hours of individual counseling. Besides
counseling and transferring procedures, students are also suspended for
five days and expelled from the district if ever caught with drugs again.
This year, seven students transferred out of MHS and 20 students
transferred into the school.

Matthews said he was interested in the "Choices Program" of Las Virgenes
School District, in which students in grades 9-12 who are caught with drugs
on a first offense are suspended for five days. They are given the choice
to participate in counseling and regular drug testing until they leave the
district. If they decline, they are recommended for expulsion.

Jim Sheridan, director of Secondary Education in Las Virgenes, considers
his program effective. Among the 40 to 50 first-time offenders per year,
two to three test positive during random drug testing.

"I think that's pretty good," Sheridan said.

Matthews believes the random drug testing has a great deal to do with the
success of Las Virgenes' program.

"Just because they're not using drugs or alcohol here doesn't mean their
behavior has changed," Matthews said.

Regular drug testing, although not surefire, forces the students, even more
so, to reform.

Schmidt said regular drug testing is not a part of the new policy for
SMMUSD, mentioning financial restrictions.

This issue is set to go before the board in spring but does not yet have a date.