Students question district policy

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- On behalf of their classmates, student leaders Tuesday

will make a case for changing the district’s controversial zero-tolerance

policy.

In a 15-minute presentation to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District

Board of Education, two members of a Newport Harbor High School student

political action committee will share their findings from discussions

focused on the district’s drug and alcohol policy that took place in

December at a town hall meeting.

Students insist there is a need for several changes in the policy, said

Patrick Sharma, one of the co-founders of the student political group.

“For the most part, there seems to be a consensus that the enforcement of

policy needs to be improved,” Sharma said. “That means across the board

that if you’re drunk -- no matter who you are -- you face the penalties.”

Since the policy was introduced, there have been student complaints of

favoritism -- that school officials look the other way for some students

and not for others.

The second point of contention, he said, is the immediate 90-day transfer

of any student caught with drugs or alcohol on their first offense.

Students feel that certain options, such as rehabilitation or community

service, should be put in place along with or instead of the automatic

school transfer, Sharma said.

“Some people feel there is an advantage to transfers, getting [students]

out of a bad element,” he said. “But others feel that the problem will

just continue at the other school.”

A trio of school board members who have been researching the issue agree

that some changes may be in order.

“We’d like to do interventions and I think that’s what will be

forthcoming in the future,” said school board president Dana Black.

Black said it is important that school officials, parents and the

community hear the students’ opinions on the issue before any decisions

are made.

In the meantime, board members have been informally polling other

districts to find out how they handle alcohol and drug violations and

what treatment programs are used.