Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion (Girl expelled from school for 1 year for Advil)

ShrevesportTimes.com ^ | 12-05-03 | Melody Brumble

[EggsAckley]

Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school Melody Brumble / The Times Posted on December 5, 2003 A student expelled from Parkway High for a year for having Advil, an over-the-counter pain reliever, will not be allowed to return to the school.

[ladylib]

And both students decided they would rather homeschool and they did just that.

[LowCountryJoe]

Just another instance in the long line of truly stupid decision making by educators. Whether it was state law or a school board policy is irrelevant to me. When schools handle incidents with over the top responses such as this one, it only increases the attractiveness of a school voucher system. Even rational Democrats - yes they're out there but increasingly harder to find - start seeing the benefit of private schooling and the normalcy that it is sure to bring.

This is my plug for the "separation between school and state" argument. Please don't write me and argue that statement on technical grounds; I still believe in public funding for K through 12 education for "neighborhood effect" reasons. In this case I've taken a page from the Democrat's Playbook after finally learning that we need slogans and buzzwords to get our message out in the popular culture crowd lest we become "Miserable Failures".

[robertpaulsen]

"JMHO, but based on this, I think there's probably a lot more to the story than has been reported here."

I agree, we're not getting the whole story. I was tipped by another part of the article which stated,

"School boards hold such hearings in a closed session, but parents have the right under state law to request that such sessions be open. Herpin didn't make that request but did speak to reporters after the hearing."

IOW, she wants to get her side of the story out in the court of public opinion, but not the school board's side of the story.

And it's working. Just look at some of the stupid posts on this thread.

[robertpaulsen]

"I think we're old enough to know how many (pills) we can take without overdosing or being in danger."

Excuse me little girl, that isn't the reason why you're not allowed to carry drugs in your purse.

[robertpaulsen]

"he lent her his inhaler"

So, he was carrying it around with him in violation of school policy?

He saved her life? Perhaps he did. By the way, were both students using the same drug in their inhalers? Was it albuterol, ventolin, or salbutamol?

Maybe it was salmeterol, used in Serevent Inhalation Aerosol, Serevent Diskus and Advair Diskus, a drug that the FDA says carry a small risk of a life-threatening asthma attack.

What if his inhaler had complicated her asthma attack? Who would the parents have sued? The "hero" or the school?

I'll make you a deal. Remove the school's liabilty, and the kids can carry all the legal drugs they want. Pretty soon, the parents will be crying for regulation because the kids are trading Ritalin and Prozac, and every other prescription drug, but hey, "they're old enough to know what they're doing", right?

[DeFault User]

I'll make you a deal. Remove the school's liabilty, and the kids can carry all the legal drugs they want.

How about a deal in which we use common sense not only at school but in tort law. Neither seems likely to happen.

[LowCountryJoe]

You're right, we don't know all the angles to this story and that's a very good point. But one year over an Advil? There must be something pretty big in that girl's disciplinary past. One Year!

On the "not knowing all sides of the story" issue, have you heard that that woman that was trampled during a Wal*Mart shopping raid on $30 DVD players - and also suffered a seizure from the resulting trampling - is a habitual claimant and "accident victim". See Linked Story!

[robertpaulsen]

Re: WalMart. I saw that.

The funny thing is, when I first read the story and heard that WalMart was going to "hold" a DVD for her to purchase, I thought, "Man, she's going to end up owning the store -- screw the DVD."

How did she fake the passing out and the seizure?

Anyways, I think a real trampling would be appropriate punishment for this faker.

[robertpaulsen]

"How about a deal in which we use common sense ..."

That's the way it used to be. A school administrator was hired and trusted to make those distinctions and those decisions.

I don't like what the schools are doing with these zero-tolerance policies. But given our stupid tort laws, they really have no choice.

[unixfox]

What is coming is frightening.

It's already here and only getting worse. We have allowed it to happen. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. WE have to get back the power that we gave them.

The only way to do that is to stop feeding the beast with our taxes and do some good ole fashioned revolting.

[optik_b]

"Liberals are absolutely amazing. This same girl could also go and get RU-486 from Planned Parenthood without her families knowledge, encouraged by this same school!"

How does expelling kids for having an Advil have anything to do with providing contraception or birth control?

FWIW Louisiana is one of many states that have parental consent laws on the books requiring parental consent or notification so your statement is false.

[optik_b]

The public school system is a mess in this country, especially in backwater areas like Louisiana.

[Amelia]

IOW, she wants to get her side of the story out in the court of public opinion, but not the school board's side of the story.

Exactly. Since the hearing wasn't open, the school can't tell their side without violating the student's privacy. I also thought this quote in the story was telling:

But another school official said earlier Thursday that having medication on campus doesn't automatically lead to a one-year expulsion. "After an investigation and a hearing then, if necessary, punishment is administered. It could be no punishment," said Betty McCauley, Bossier schools student services director.

[Graymatter]

Average behavior---if this means she has done some dumb things, not dumb enough to land her in reformatory or youth shelter---if this means she smokes cigs on the sly in the girls' room...
This was average behavior forty years ago. If it is still average I am much encouraged.
Back then, however, the average punishment for sneaking a smoke was 3 days suspension. Not a year in an alternative school, which probably contains many more, and much worse, elements than she was rubbing elbows with in regular school.
This for Advil? It's legal and nearly every teenage girl uses it for the proper purpose. To put it in the same category as illegal drugs is plain stupid.
But then, if she is so "average," she will see that and learn to despise stupidity and be leery of bureaucrats, and there are far harder ways to learn the lessons.
I hope her parent won't permit the alternative schooling. It's costly to fight the system but the "alternative" would be real damage, possibly the kind no amount of money can fix.

[ladylib]

It would certainly screw up her chance for college. If the parents can't afford a private school or homeschool (on-line courses), perhaps move her out of state to a relative.

It's risky sending your kids to public school today.

[jimstoic]

Funny, a friend just sent me an email about this very story. His assumption was that the decision makers were FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIANS, because he felt such people would take the letter of the law literally. I doubt that the school and school district administrators, school board, and legislators and others responsible for the law could be accurately grouped as either liberal or conservative, Christian or otherwise.

[friendly]

The school board consists technically of what are termed "morons."

[ItsForTheChildren]

The zore-tolerance pinheads have got to go. Vote 'em out!

However, I don't buy that homeschooling and private schooling are the only way to go. It depends on the school district. I've had kids in the same district for 18 years now and have never heard or seen "zero-tolerance" used in any policy statement (can't find the words on their web site either). My oldest child is now an honors student at OU - dean's list and many departmental accolades (physics) so I guess I can say with some certainty that he turned out alright. My youngest is is sixth grade making straight-As. Sounds OK so far. Encourage them to read and teach them to think. It goes a long way.