Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 13, 1995                   TAG: 9510130063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CANDIDATES SUPPORT GET-TOUGH POLICY FOR SCHOOL OFFENDERS

If school board candidates in Western Virginia agree on one thing, it is the expulsion of students who bring weapons and drugs to school or assault others.

They are nearly unanimous in supporting a get-tough policy to keep drugs and guns, as well as other weapons, out of schools.

"We have to protect the students," said Russell "Butch" Wright, a candidate in Bedford County.

"We have to get tough. Assaults against the faculty and other students will not be tolerated," Wright said.

G.B. Washburn Jr., a candidate in Franklin County, believes schools should do more than just expel students for these offenses.

"I also feel that these students should serve six months' community service cleaning school grounds," Washburn said.

Expelling students can be a tough issue because of some difficult home environments that exist today, said John Reed, a Roanoke County candidate.

"But it should not take 30 days to decide the fate of a student with a loaded gun," Reed said.

James Klagge, a candidate in Montgomery County, said he endorses the policy as well.

"Children need to feel safe at school. We are blessed by living in a county where this is not a big problem," Klagge said. "We need to keep it that way."

A new state law requires that any student who brings a gun or other deadly weapon to school be expelled automatically for at least one year.

Expelled students can apply for readmission after a year, but school divisions are not required to let them back in.

Some school systems such as Roanoke's were expelling students for bringing weapons to school before the new state law was enacted.

Students are bringing more drugs and weapons to schools in Virginia, according to the state's latest report on such offenses.

The cases of drug possession increased by 88 percent in the 1993-94 school year. The incidents of gun possession rose by 8 percent, and the possession of other weapons increased by 14 percent. And there was an 18 percent increase in assaults, the report showed.

The law requires differing penalties for assaults and the possession and distribution of drugs.

Roanoke, for example, expels students who sell or distribute drugs or assault others. But it suspends only up to 10 days first-time offenders who use or possess alcohol or drugs.

However, Salem is considering extending the expulsion policy to include first offenses for possession or use of alcohol or drugs - the same penalty for possession as distribution of the substances.

In Montgomery County, students are suspended up to eight days for the first violation of the drug policy and are given counseling.

Even though most school board candidates who responded to a survey by The Roanoke Times support expelling students for weapon and drug offenses, several said the schools need to work closely with community agencies and juvenile court officials to remedy the problem.

David Emeigh, a Botetourt County candidate, favors expulsion, but he said the schools cannot ignore the reasons for the problem.

"We need to spend more time treating the cause of such behavior, and not the symptoms," Emeigh said.

"We need to find out why a student needs to do or bring this stuff to school," said Robert Anderson, a candidate in Montgomery County. "Parents need to be held accountable to some extent."

Benny Shrader, a candidate in Bedford County, said schools also need to provide alternative education and dropout prevention programs to deal with students who cause discipline problems.

In Floyd County, David Sulzen said he, too, supports expulsion, but said there should be better coordination with the courts so students are not lost to the system.

If the judicial system worked closely with schools, he said, expelled students could be required to perform community service or receive treatment in a medical or correctional institution, which would prepare them to return to schools.

Coming Sunday: Where school board candidates stand on a longer school day or a longer school year.

Keywords:
POLITICS