SCHOOLS STUDY ADDING THIRD STRIKE TO DRUG POLICY

Two-Strike Expulsion Is A Way Into Treatment, Attorney Says

School officials are studying whether to add a third strike to the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools' drug policy.

The district is considering changes in part because it ranks among the
state's leaders in expulsions. The district had 3 percent of the state's
enrollment but 19 percent - or 44 - of the state's expulsions in 2001-02,
the most recent year that complete data is available.

"It's just an issue," said Doug Punger, the school system's attorney.
"We've had a large number of expulsions."

Officials say that the cause is the district's drug policy, which calls for
students to be expelled the second time they are caught with drugs and alcohol.

Punger said that the district uses expulsions as a vehicle to get students
into treatment programs.

"Our policy ... is designed to be therapeutic," he said. "It's the classic
carrot and stick."

He said the statistics can be misleading. Expulsion generally means that
the student is permanently removed from school, but all students have the
opportunity to re-apply if they receive treatment, he said.

"In effect it's really a suspension," Punger said. The two-strikes rule
does not apply if students are caught selling or intending to sell drugs or
alcohol. In those cases, expulsion is often the rule.

Under the proposed changes, penalties for the first time a student is
caught with drugs or alcohol would remain the same. The student would be
suspended for three to five days and could be suspended for the rest of the
year. The long-term suspension would be stayed if the student agreed to a
drug assessment and treatment program, which is paid for by the school system.

The proposed policy would change the penalties for the second offense. The
offending student would receive a 10-day suspension and be put on probation
if he or she agrees to a drug assessment and treatment program. The
student's family would pay the costs of treatment and assessment.

If the student completes the program, the student can be released from
probation. The student would also be drug-tested at random for one year.

Offending students would be expelled if they committed three offenses in
three years, but could be readmitted if they complete a drug assessment and
treatment program. Those students would also be drug-tested for one year
and pay the costs of treatment and assessment.

The proposal would also eliminate the differing wait times required before
expelled students can apply for readmission. Students in four-period
schools now must wait until the beginning of the next grading period, at
least 45 days after being expelled; students in seven-period schools must
wait 90 days.

Under the proposal, all expelled students would have to wait 45 days.

The proposed changes also call for the district to increase random drug
testing from 10 percent of students in extracurricular activities to 30
percent.

Punger said that student surveys show that students don't think testing
keeps them from using drugs. They don't believe they will be tested, he
said. "Apparently it's not had an effect."

Punger said that he had not compared Forsyth County's drug policy to those
in other urban districts.