COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

Dana Black, Jim Ferryman and Martha Fluor

In June 1999, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of

Education established a subcommittee composed of the three board members,

who currently have children in our schools, to review the 4210

(zero-tolerance policy) with district staff. This is not the first time

that the Board of Education has reviewed the policy. Over the course of

the last four years, this board has “tinkered” with the existing policy.

In 1996, as a result of lawsuits, the board of education defined the

terms “under the influence” and “school sponsored event.” In 1998, the

board amended the automatic transfer section of the policy to allow

elementary principals the leeway in dealing with kindergarten to

third-grade students caught with nail files (weapons) and aspirin

(drugs). Now, this subcommittee is looking at the automatic transfer

policy for all students.

Not one of us on this subcommittee is interested in “‘getting rid” of the

automatic transfer section. We all believe that an effective

zero-tolerance policy must have some significant consequences for those

students who violate the policy. We believe that they must be firm and

strictly enforced. We believe it should be applied uniformly to all

students.

We are interested in looking at what is in the best interest of the

student. We are interested in a policy that is consistent, fair and

uniformly applied to all students. We are interested in looking at

interventions that work, of providing a student and his or her parents

with options that assist the student and family in dealing with his or

her situation, of providing opportunities for growth in responsibility

and decision making. We are interested in a policy that provides staff

and families with options.

The staff of Newport-Mesa Unified School District will be making

recommendations to this subcommittee on constructive options to consider.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education will not make

this decision without a great deal of input from parents, students,

experts, legal counsel and interested community members. This is just the

beginning -- no decisions have been made.

* DANA BLACK, JIM FERRYMAN and MARTHA FLUOR are members of the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education.