TUSTIN

Beginning next week, the three Foothill High School students expelled for violating the Tustin Unified School District’s zero-tolerance policy will attend Tustin High School, the Board of Education ruled in closed session Wednesday.

The three seniors--Jason Greenberg, Robert Koster and Britton Pierson--left school grounds Oct. 27 to go to a private home during lunch. School officials said the students later admitted to smoking marijuana, a violation of the school’s drug policy that prohibits drug use on or off campus during lunch. Tuesday, an Orange County Superior Court judge upheld the district’s right to transfer the three students to another high school.

Last month, the board expelled the boys after five hearings on the matter; Greenberg was sent to Tustin High while Koster and Pierson were transferred to Hillview High School, a continuation school for students with academic or behavior problems. The teens’ parents argued that their children should not be forced to attend Hillview. On Wednesday, the board changed its initial ruling upon considering Tustin High’s “educational program,” officials said.