School Board Reduces Athletes' Penalties
By Sandy Vondrasek Cooch

Following an emergency school board meeting Saturday morning, four of eight Randolph Union High School students, who had been suspended from school late last week following an investigation into allegations of marijuana use on a senior class trip, had their disciplinary consequences reduced by the board.

As a result of board rulings on the student appeals, several varsity athletes who had been removed from their teams, as well as suspended from school, were reinstated and allowed to play in Saturday's playoff game.

The incident, and the reversal of the suspensions, has also triggered tensions and divisions in the school- as the seniors head into the final days of their high school careers- and in the broader community.

The disciplinary actions originally meted out to eight seniors by RUHS Principal John Holmes included school suspensions that ranged from one to 10 days. Those among the eight who played spring sports were also removed from their varsity teams, for alleged violation (use of substances) of the athletic contract that is signed by all student athletes at the beginning of the season.

The modified consequences handed out to the four by the school board following Saturday's hearings represented in every case a reduction of those issued by Holmes, according to Orange Southwest Supt. Brent Kay.

The new consequences, he said, included "a one-day's suspension, some school service, and a letter of reprimand."

Not Enough Evidence

"In a nutshell," Kay added, "the board felt that there had been some inappropriate behavior, but that there wasn't strong enough evidence to prove breach of the athletic code.

"If there had been, the board would have acted," Kay said.

This week, both RUHS Holmes and Supt. Kay shared information on disciplinary proceedings but, citing student confidentiality requirements, held back specific details.

Holmes said allegations were first brought to him the day after the trip, by parents of some of the students who had been on the trip. Holmes himself had been one of the chaperones on the May 29-30 trip, but was not aware of any incident until reports started coming in.

The allegations were that "some students had gone to the presidential suite (of the hotel) with a security guard where some marijuana had been smoked," Holmes said.

"One of the toughest parts of my job is to have to gather information after an incident when I haven't been there to observe," Holmes commented.

Over the course of two days, last Thursday and Friday, Holmes questioned 49 of the 51 students on the trip, and caught up the other two on Monday.

"I determined in fact that something had happened and I developed a list of names of students who were repeatedly reported to be there (in the hotel room)," Holmes said. He subsequently issued suspensions, of varying lengths, to eight students, over the course of a few days.

Holmes also contacted Randolph police, as he is required to do in cases involving potential criminal charges. However, since the alleged actions occurred outside the RPD jurisdiction, there is probably little local police can or will do, Holmes said.

He also contacted the Lake George hotel, and hotel management has since advised Holmes that the part-time security guard had been "terminated."

Appeal Process

Students and their parents are entitled to appeal disciplinary actions, and late last week, four of the eight students suspended filed appeals.

Normally those appeals go first to the superintendent. However, because of the small window of time between Holmes' action and Saturday's playoff game, all parties agreed to proceed to a hearing before the board, Kay explained this week

"It literally came down in a matter of hours," Kay said this week.

Bypassing a step in the appeal process is unusual, but does happen from time to time, when all parties agree, Kay said. He agreed that convening an emergency board meeting is an extraordinary measure, but said the situation warranted it.

"I think there were extraordinary circumstances: A very serious set of allegations brought against three members of a sports team- that they had broken the student code and the athletic contract- and because of the gravity of the situation, in terms of timing, the board wanted to deal with it as soon as possible."

According to the state's open meeting laws, emergency meetings "may be held only when necessary to respond to an unforeseen occurrence or condition requiring immediate attention by the public body." By law, the meetings require "some public notice."

According to Principal Holmes, since Saturday, a fifth student has filed an appeal of the disciplinary action he received. That appeal will go next to Supt. Kay, Holmes said.

According to Holmes, the board's emergency session on Saturday consisted of four separate hearings, one for each student, and one deliberative session, where all four appeals were considered. The board, which convened the session at 10 a.m., came out of deliberative session and announced its decisions at about 1:15 p.m., Holmes said. Students and their parents had stayed on hand to hear the decisions, Holmes said.

Additional Info

Both Kay and Holmes said this week they supported the decisions of the board, which were based, they said, on additional information not available to Holmes when he made his judgments to suspend.

"There were a number of different forms of evidence, including medical evidence," Kay reported, adding, "I'm confident of the validity of the medical information."

Kay stressed that he and the board supported Holmes' initial decisions.

"I firmly believe, as does the board, that John Holmes made the right decision, given the information he had at the time."

"Only the students involved know what really happened," Supt. Kay added. "A lot of rumors start flying around, but if you understand the hearing process, it can't be hearsay; it has to be evidence. That's a challenge."

A rumor that the student athletes obtained a court order overturning Holmes' disciplinary actions is not true, nor did any students or their parents have hired legal counsel at the hearings, Holmes said.

However, there were a few lawyers present at the hearings, he said, in the form of parents and/or a coach.

Emotions Stirred

Both Holmes and Kay this week confirmed the events of the past week had stirred some deep emotions and divisions at the school. Complaints are also being voiced outside of the school, including from former students who had been kicked off RUHS teams in past years for substance-use violations.

Principal Holmes confirmed yesterday a report that one RUHS student had just resigned from the school's national honor society. He said "it wasn't specifically stated" that the resignation was due to the recent turmoil, but said it was "quite possible" there was a connection. Holmes also said that he has heard of other actions of protest, but that he didn't want to comment on them.

"I don't want to fuel the fire," he said.

"It couldn't have happened at a worse time in the year," Holmes said of recent events.

"It is a very contentious issue," he continued, "and it is very unfortunate that all details can't be provided, so everyone knows the complete picture to make their own decision. And that, unfortunately is the way it is going to have to stay."

No Surprise

Supt. Kay noted this that allegations of marijuana use do not come as a surprise to administrators, since students "self-report" using and abusing alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, in the "Youth Risk" surveys that they fill out anonymously each year.

"To suggest that kids do not experiment or try would be burying our heads in the sand," Kay said.

"When something like this happens," he added, "I hear people say there is a drug problem in the school. I say there is not- there is a drug problem in the community."

Kay said "the school does an unbelievable amount of drug and alcohol prevention work," ranging from counseling services, the health curriculum, and Prevention Partnership activities.

But substance abuse is a "difficult thing to tackle" without parental and community support, he said.

"For parents, I would encourage them to try to communicate openly with their kids about this," Kay said. "We need to open up dialogue."

Kay and Holmes said this week, following a week of investigation and hearings, that school policies and systems in place appeared to work well, and that no major changes were being contemplated.

Nor are major drug testing or dog sniffing screenings imminent, as they involve complex legal issues, Kay said.

Holmes noted that when the bus full of seniors pulled up in front of the Lake George hotel last Tuesday, he cautioned the students that the trip was a school-sponsored event, and that all school rules remained in effect, even though the hotel was a "less-restrictive environment" than the school.

The senior trip, Holmes said, gives the class a chance for "a little taste of freedom," and the school will continue "to expect they will reciprocate by behaving themselves." "I hope the actions of a few individuals don't cause drastic changes in what we do, though I am certainly willing to take advice from concerned parties," he said.