Chancellor High School student suspended for five days for having two Tylenol tablets

http://www.fredericksburg.com ^ | 2/3/2004 | ALLEN SCAIFE

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Chancellor High School student suspended for five days for having two Tylenol

YOUTH CORRESPONDENT

It happened like this:

Each seventh of a school day has its own distinct characteristics. The first class of the day is passed in a half-dazed state of semiconsciousness and quickly blends into second period.

At this point, the dull realization sets in that a new day is just beginning.

After first period, waking life is a thing of the past. The sour taste of the early morning is cut by Winterfresh gum, and the teacher's writing on the chalkboard looks a little less blurry.

However, eyes still droop every now and then, and an occasional thought drifts back to the warm and comfortable bed that had been robbed of its only occupant by a raucous alarm clock.

For one Chancellor High School student, second period on Friday, Dec. 12 was no daydream.

Rachel Warrick changed into her PE clothes and headed for the gym, leaving her book bag in the locker room as she always did. She then joined the other students as they waited for class to begin.

Shortly, an announcement came on through the PA system explaining that all students would be locked into their second period classes until further notice. Drug bust. This is a normal event in almost every high school across America.

Warrick had nothing to worry about. She had never been in trouble before in her life. The only sedatives she carried came in the form of heavy textbooks.

She was not in the least bit unnerved, and waited until Jacqueline Bass-Fortune, Chancellor's principal, dismissed the students from second period.

When she walked back into the locker room, she was shocked to find that her bag had been taken. A gym teacher was waiting for her. She explained that the police had taken her bag after one of the dogs had barked upon sniffing it.

Warrick was to report immediately to the office.

Upon entering the office, she was faced by a panel of grim looking adults. Her backpack was on a table. A small plastic zip-lock baggie lay beside it.

"We found this in your bag," someone told her.

There were two Tylenol tablets enclosed in the plastic.

The police, performing a routine canine drug-search, had been alerted by the dogs of something suspicious when they inspected Warrick's belongings.

Drug dogs are not trained to smell Tylenol. They barked when they caught the scent of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that she had brought with her the day before.

Warrick was suspended for five school days. Apparently this was to be considered lucky--according to the Spotsylvania Student Code of Conduct, the possession or use of alcohol, drug paraphernalia or restricted substances (other than tobacco) requires a minimum punishment of 10 days of out of school suspension.

"This has been the only time I've ever been in trouble," she said. "They have to take that into consideration. It's Tylenol--not a drug."

However, the Code of Conduct's "zero tolerance" policy makes no concession for first-time offenders. The punishment is pretty non-negotiable.

Normally there is an appeals process that one can go through to attempt to null punishment, but not for drug-related suspensions.

"The intent behind the zero tolerance is a good one," said Bill Warrick, Rachel's father. "The goal is to prevent dangerous drug use and to make sure the students are safe, but there's a serious flaw if this kind of situation can arise.

"I think this policy is being too strictly interpreted--and in this case, the repercussions were too heavy handed. There's no discretion, and it doesn't allow for any exceptions."

According to healthsquare.com, "Tylenol is a fever and pain reducing medication that is widely used to relieve simple headaches and muscle aches; the minor aches and pains associated with the common cold; backache; toothache; minor pain of arthritis; and menstrual cramps." The back of the bottle states that the typical dose for adults and children 12 and over is two tablets. Users are instructed not to take more than 12 Tylenol over the course of 24 hours.

"She had two Tylenol, not the whole bottle," said her father.

Bass-Fortune, the school's principal, did not return repeated calls and e-mails regarding this story.

This offense will show up on Rachel's permanent record. Fortunately for her, the Warricks were informed that this infraction would not be divulged to any universities to which Rachel might apply.

Students in the school were outraged by the news--but one Stafford High teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, supports the policy.

"Regardless of reason or innocence, these procedures for administering medication at school were established for a reason and must be followed," the teacher stated. "Without such safeguards, teachers would be held responsible for identifying pills.

"I, for one, do not want to be held responsible for the high risks associated with bending this policy."

But on the student front, discontent with this incident is loud and clear.

"This just seems like it's punishing the wrong people," said Emily Croke, a sophomore at Courtland and one of Warrick's friends. "She's the nicest person you'll ever meet, and she was suspended for five days while other people are getting away with actual crimes."

Warrick is a student of the Commonwealth Governor's school, a rigorous academic program that demands constant attendance. These five days set her back noticeably, although friends helped to keep her up to speed on all her assignments.

"My teachers seemed disappointed in me," she said, "but all my friends and my parents were very supportive.

"They all asked 'How can they do this to you?' Everyone was telling me to do something about it, but there's not really much I could have done."

Having completed her suspension, Rachel is back in classes. She knows that she will have to suffer any future aches and pains without the benefit of Tylenol.

ALLEN SCAIFE is a senior at Stafford High School.

[Marianne]

. . . according to the Spotsylvania Student Code of Conduct, the possession or use of alcohol, drug paraphernalia or restricted substances (other than tobacco) requires a minimum punishment of 10 days of out of school suspension.
Tylenol is a restricted substance but tobacco is OK??????
The "smoke nazis won't like this.

[El Conservador]

Well, you've met the anti-public education crowd on FR.

These people think that the problems of public education will be solved by nuking every public school in the country and hanging every schoolteacher from a lamppost.

They come under various names: Homeschoolers, voucher supporters, faith-based education supporters, etc. (Beware the homeschoolers: they'll eat you alive).

Public education in America has a ray of hope, as demonstrated by most suburban and rural school districts, which provide high quality education.

There's a lot to be done to improve, but public education can be rescued.

[headsonpikes]

A lack of public education would lead to even dumber people.

Then we're hooped.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Hi AP ,
Post this for me. I can't get on.


As for the no tolerance thing. I make this FIRST HAND OBSERVATION. I,we, do School retrofit projects and I personally have snooped in hundreds of desks of teachers , Supers , Coaches Etc. WE NEED TO DO A DRUG SERCH OF THERE DESKS, LOCKERS, TEACHERS LOUNGES , BAGS, PURSES , CARS, ETC.
THEY CANNOT FUNCTION WITHOUT THERE DRUGS. AND ANOTHER THING, ( FOR NO REASION OR EXCUSE, LETS GIVE THE KIDS A VACATION OF 10 DAYS EVERY 2-3 WEEKS AS THERE WOULD BE NO ONE THERE TO "TEACH??" THEM AS ALL OF THEM WOULD BE SUSPENDED .

It seems to me that this liberal B.S. is one sided. I don't care if they are 80 years old and still teaching. NO TOLERANCE ON DRUGS, NO EXCUSES OF ANY KIND. (Get on the truck all of you Commies.)
Home Schooling looks like a good way to go to me.

CAUSE ALL OF THOSE SO CALLED TEACHERS SURE ARE NOT PRACTICEING WHAT THEY PREACH.

HAY in Ohio

[FormerACLUmember]

Gutless puke! Every one of these fascistic-lunatic-left-wing fringe-dwelling mobbed-up-union lickspittles -- charged by "law" with standing in loco parentis -- lacks the intellectual and moral integrity needed to form and act upon his own judgement. Gutless scumbags!

Ah, but you need to open up a little. Share your real feelings!

This is preposterous, especially with all the kids getting Ritalin from the school nurse at the insistence of these very same teachers.

And I find teachers as a group to be heavily medicated (Zoloft, Zyprexa, Lexapro, Xanax, Depakoate, etc.) I wonder what a search of the TEACHERS' belongings would find??? A ton of drugs I wager.

[Redcloak]

She's a doper. She should be in a jail cell, not a school room.

</sarcasm>

[cspackler]

Well, you've met the anti-public education crowd on FR.

Not my first experience, but it never really changes, does it?

[Brian Allen]

<< Ah, but you need to open up a little. Share your real feelings! >>

Feelings?

What are they?

If it's all the same to you I'll strictly stick with objectivity -- and with what I think.

HehHehHeh ......

[Brian Allen]

<< There's a lot to be done to improve, but "public 'education'" can be rescued. >>

Absolutely.

And nothing will do it more quickly than if we permit the crowd that first established the illegal, unlawful, un-Constitutional false premise from which the concept of "public 'education'" and every failed "public 'service'" has ever descended -- and their emasculated, feminized and "homosexualized" lickspittle mobbed-up union henchmen -- to "rescue" the cascading series of disasters thus set in motion.

How much would they like this time?

Will another Thirty Trillion do the trick?

And their new jingle?

"No Cucumber Left Un-Condomed," perhaps?

Or would you prefer to stick with "No American Child Left Intact?"

[Shouldn't we be very afraid that our children are being taught all about gummint in "schools" all owned, staffed, operated and controlled by the gummint? Hmmmmmmmmmmm? Shouldn't we?]

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

She's a doper. She should be in a jail cell, not a school room

</sarcasm> <---- I see that

Are you trying to stir up a buch of Chit ? lol

[Iwo Jima]

Not even that. You would have to be able to read the word "Tylenol" on the tablet.

[El Conservador]

Well, so what's your alternative???

One big homeschool??? Not likely.

All-private education??? There's people that damn sure can't afford it, so you're telling a susbstantial part of the population to go screw themselves.

Any other better ideas??? I thought so.

It's people like you who have let public education go down, because instead of proposing solutions to improve public schools, all you do is bitch and moan about how "evil" they are.

If you don't have anything better to say, then don't say anything at all.

[Redcloak]

Are you trying to stir up a buch of Chit ? lol

Moi? <innocent_look="off">

I didn't have time to peruse the entire thread, so I wasn't sure if the hard core Drug Warriors had shown up yet to defend "The Precious" from the libertarian hordes. I was just helping them out.

[Brian Allen]

<< There's people that damn sure can't afford it, so you're telling a susbstantial part of the population to go screw themselves. >>

1 Does it ever occur to you that if [Rude, ill-mannered and boorishly-ignorant] totalitarian morons like you would keep your bloody hands of other people's money we would all be able to afford very very much more than we presently are?

Or that FRee enterprise always provides goods and services better and cheaper and more efficiently than does gummint? All that is required is that gummint get to hell out of the way!

2. If someone is unable to afford the half dozen or so cars and pickups that sit in the driveways of my homes, should my money be confiscated and squandered on cars and houses for him?

So why on schools for his brats? [Or pills for his bloody granny!]

3. It should terrify any intellectually and morally sound American that his children are being "taught" [Indoctrinated more like it!] all about gummint in schools owned operated, staffed and controlled by terroristic activist elements of the "DemocRAT" potty.

[No wonder you're a public schooling advocate]

4. If there is any evil moaning and bitching going on on this thread, you are the one doing all of it.

[Pscychopathological Projection Syndrome -- defining symptom of the evilly moaning and bitching sufferer of the [Lunatic-left-wing-fringe-dwelling] "liberal" psychosis]

[Doctor Stochastic]

Tylenol is a gateway pain killer. People who use oxycontin usually started on Tylenol, progressed through Advil, Luden's, thence to more powerful pain relivers. No pain, no gain.

[NoLongerLurking]

A discussion about the positives and negatives or public schools and you try to turn it into an overall evaluation of all govt programs. Sounds like you are simply against public education because you are against all govt in general.

So why on schools for his brats?
So I assume this means you are also against school vouchers because that would still be tax money paying for their children's education? Do you not believe that the nation would be better served by having an educated populace, rather than having some people educated and the rest unable to even read. No nation can prosper if a large portion of its people are without education.

Ignoring the strong of ad-hominems about people who support public education suddenly becoming Rude, ill-mannered and boorishly-ignorant totalitarian morons, if govt took no taxes there would still be people who cannot pay for private education. If a family is so poor that it does not make enough money to pay taxes and the tax rate is decreased significantly because of a reduction in the size of govt (God could only ope this would happen) that family will still not have enough money to pay for the private education. Very little minus nothing is still very little.

If someone is unable to afford the half dozen or so cars and pickups that sit in the driveways of my homes, should my money be confiscated and squandered on cars and houses for him?
Nobody said they should. I thought we were talking about schools.

It should terrify any intellectually and morally sound American that his children are being "taught" [Indoctrinated more like it!] all about gummint in schools owned operated, staffed and controlled by terroristic activist elements of the "DemocRAT" potty.
As the son of two public high school teachers this is really just a huge insult to me. My parents would do anything for the kids they teach. Many of the kids at their school have very low income, when me Dad was offered a higher ranking job at a new high school that would have been mostly upper class kids he said no way. He teaches programming and says a lot of the lower income kids whose parents are maids and janitors sees the class as their possible ticket to a better life for their family. We are Republicans and acknowledge that people should be encouraged to pull themselves up out of poverty instead of being picked up by big govt. They need to be educated to do so.

By the way, it may fly fine here at FR but you will never be able to convince anybody outside of extreme conservative circles of the validity of your arguments by relying on insults and ad-hominems for the main support of your arguments.

[El Conservador]

Pscychopathological Projection Syndrome

I think you just diagnosed yourself.

You just went on a frothing-mouth rant, only you didn't proposed any solutions.

When you turn your Howard-Dean-on-ecstasy mode off, write back.

[headsonpikes]

Sounds like you are simply against public education because you are against all govt in general.

Whatever has led you to believe that government control of education can be anything other than a social-conditioning program to create willing servants of the social welfare state? The whole point of the contemporary public school is to prepare youngsters for life in the brave new world of socially-engineered, gender-neutral, multi-cultural perfection.

To me, accession to this governmental usurpation is surrender to the practices, and therefore the resulting fruits, of socialism. A para-military America(SWAT raids in public schools) is a socialist America!

Call it what you will - if a system subordinates individuals to a political collective, then that is a socialist system.

[JudgemAll]

"The intent behind the zero tolerance is a good one," said Bill Warrick, Rachel's father. "The goal is to prevent dangerous drug use and to make sure the students are safe, but there's a serious flaw if this kind of situation can arise.

Zero tolerance is not a good intent and a bad one paving the way to hell.

Zero tolerance is about politicizing a "crime" above that of other crimes, or, worse, targetting a specific kind of free behavior and criminalizing it.

Zero tolerance advocates are criminals in color of law. They answer to no one and decriminalize their own thefts, unsettlement of others, destruction hypothetical thinking and story telling, and who "kill" for arbitrary reasons and do not respect self defense.

[JudgemAll]

Sounds like you are simply against public education because you are against all govt in general.

Public education is an oxymoron, a lie. There is nothing public about it. It should be called government education.