REVISE ZERO TOLERANCE, SCHOOLS TOLD

A Knox County Chancery Court judge has ordered the Knox County Board of
Education to revise its zero-tolerance policy for the second time.

The board has begun working on a draft of the change, but rewording the
policy won't mean more expelled students will get into
alternative-education programs instead of being out of school for a year.
That was the goal of the lawsuit that produced the order.

Beginning this year, the school system will offer an alternative school
class to 15 zero-tolerance offenders. Just over 170 students were expelled
under the policy, which is modeled after state law, last school year.

Chancellor Sharon Bell gave the school board time to amend the policy that
governs student expulsions for zero-tolerance offenses - possession of
drugs, weapons and physical attacks on teachers - before she ruled that the
policy, as it exists, violates a March 2001 court order, state law and the
Tennessee Constitution.

"The chancellor looked at me and said, 'I can rule against you right now or
you can go back to your board and ask them to reform their policy in a way
that gives these students procedural due process,' " school board attorney
Marty McCampbell told board members at a recent board workshop. The ruling,
filed July 8, came as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by the parents of
two Halls High School freshmen who were expelled in September 2000 for
taking or possessing someone else's prescription sleeping pills. The
lawsuit claimed that free public education is a right granted by the U.S.
and Tennessee constitutions, regardless of the expulsions.

The judge agreed and in March 2001 ordered the school board to revise its
policy in accordance with state law and "constitutional guarantees afforded
the plaintiffs."

The school board did revise the policy in April 2001 by adding a clause
stating that all students expelled under zero tolerance would be considered
for placement in an alternative school.

But the plaintiffs' lawyers asked the judge to rule that the school board
had violated the order because 141 students' cases had been reviewed
between April 2001 and April 2002 and none had been placed in alternative
education.

School board members are not opposed to placing the expelled students in
alternative school; in fact, many support the idea. The problem is money,
they say.

"The argument we made as far as why we hadn't accepted 140 students is we
had run out of funding," Superintendent Charles Lindsey told board members.
He cited the state budget crisis and the mid-year cut of $9 million from
the school system's budget.

"There's certainly not any funding to go off and start alternative
schools," he said.

McCampbell told the board she didn't think the judge got past the fact that
141 students' cases were reviewed but none got in.

In addition to the change made last year, the proposed wording of the
policy will state that students involved in zero-tolerance behavior may be
considered for alternative educational services, including homebound
services, Richard Yoakley Alternative School and other services as they
become available. The change also stipulates that the superintendent will
consider factors such as seriousness of offense, previous discipline
records, grades and attendance.

School board member Sam Anderson wondered how the school system can argue
that it has no money for alternative school services for expelled students
when money left over at the end of the year is transferred into the fund
balance.

"How can we argue that we couldn't have contracted with personnel to do
evening and alternative school?" Anderson asked. "I think that's where
we're in a jam."

The school system did offer a pilot summer school program to 71 expelled
students this summer. Only 31 took advantage of the one-month program that
lets them return to school Aug. 13 instead of in January or February.

School board Chairman Jim McClain said the board has already revised the
policy to include changes in the state law and now twice for the local
court. He wondered if the state law the policy is based on can survive.

"I think zero tolerance is doomed eventually," McClain said.