STUDENTS WILL GET HELP, NOT EXPULSION AFTER DRUG BUST

The Bolivar High School students who were implicated in a marijuana buying
and selling bust Friday will not be expelled. Superintendent Dennis Cooper
said the school's role is two-fold: provide a safe learning environment and
meet the needs of students.

Cooper said the school will work with the students to focus on helping them
with their problems.

The bust - which got seven students suspended this week - has focused
attention on the need for intervention.

"It has alerted us to the fact that we as a community - education
officials, law enforcement and most importantly parents - are going to have
to open our eyes to work together to find solutions to this on-going
problem," Cooper said.

Disciplinary action outlined

The Bolivar High School 2002-2003 student handbook allows administration
some leeway when taking disciplinary action against students who bring
drugs/alcohol or weapons onto campus.

Drugs/alcohol

1. Possession of or attendance under the influence of any unauthorized
prescription drug, alcohol, narcotic substance, counterfeit drugs or
drug-related paraphernalia.

First offense - 10-180 days out-of-school suspension, documentation in
student's discipline record and loss of 90 school days of all school
activities.

Subsequent offense - 10-180 days out-of-school suspension, expulsion,
documentation in student's discipline records plus loss of 90 school days
of school activities.

2. Sale or distribution of any prescription drugs, alcohol, narcotic
substance, counterfeit drugs or drug-related paraphernalia.

First offense - 1-180 days out-of-school suspension and documentation in
student's discipline record.

Weapons

Possession or use of any instrument or device defined as a dangerous weapon
(for example, a gun).

First offense - One calendar year suspension or expulsion, notification to
law enforcement officials, and documentation in student's discipline record.

Safe Schools Act

The 1996 Missouri General Assembly enacted legislation that requires school
districts to report acts of school violence. It also contains consequences
of failure to obey the standards of conduct and the importance of the
standards to the maintenance of an atmosphere where learning is possible
and encouraged.

According to the Safe Schools Act, the school district discipline policy
shall provide for a suspension of not less than one year or expulsion for a
student who is determined to have brought a weapon to school in violation
of district policy, modifiable on a case-by-case basis by the
superintendent. This shall not prevent the school district from providing
education services in an alternative setting to a student suspended under
the provisions of this section.