Just Say ‘Go’ : Downey Schools Wage War on Drug Use With Wave of Expulsions

A toughened anti-drug policy has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of Downey Unified School District students being expelled in the program’s first two years, and there are no signs the trend will soon change, officials say.

The number of students expelled for drug use reached an all-time high last year, when 86 students were expelled, and this year is following suit, district Deputy Supt. A. H. Shiney said earlier this week.

As part of its campaign against drugs, the district began requiring expulsion hearings for first-offense drug possession during the 1984-1985 school year. Previously, many of those cases were handled by individual schools and resulted in suspension, but not expulsion from a school or, more seriously, from the district, Shiney said.

The change in district policy satisfied state law, which in 1983 began requiring a recommendation of expulsion and a hearing for all students caught with drugs, said Lillie Wilson, a consultant with the Los Angeles County office of education.

DARE, Project Impact

The tough policy is part of a multi-pronged effort recently embraced by the district to curb substance abuse on campus. The campaign includes DARE, a program to teach elementary students to resist pressures to use drugs, and Project Impact, a drug intervention program for the district’s middle and high schools.

“It’s going to take quite a while to see the impact of these programs,” Shiney said. “We certainly hope to see these numbers come down.”

The number of hearings and expulsions for drug offenses rose dramatically after the new policy went into effect.

There were 17 expulsions for drug offenses during the 1983-84 school year. There were 81 during the 1984-85 school year, the first year the policy was in force, and 86 last year.

So far this year, there have been 12 hearings for drug offenses and 8 expulsions, about the same pace as last year, Shiney said. The other four cases will be decided in December.

Repeat Offenders Decline

Students usually are expelled for furnishing drugs or for a second offense, he said.

The number of repeat drug offenders declined from 10 during the 1984-85 school year to four last year.

“I think the effectiveness is the low number of students who repeat with the same offense,” Shiney said.

Nearly half of the students expelled during the past two school years were expelled from the district, while the others were allowed to return to their schools or transferred to others in the district. A suspension is usually shorter than an expulsion and doesn’t remain on a student’s academic record.

In many cases, students are required to seek outside counseling as a condition of their return to their school or the district, Shiney said.

“In most instances (school board members) feel they’re doing it in the total interest of the school program,” said Shiney, who added that a drug dealer or user on campus endangers other students. The toughened policy was applauded and criticized by students this week at Downey High.

Innocent Contact

“People I know would be using more (drugs) it it weren’t for that rule,” said Student Council President Chris Baumann, 17, a senior. But Baumann said the rule could result in a hearing for a student who innocently had come into contact with drugs.

Billy Solis, a 16-year-old junior, said anyone caught with drugs should be expelled from the district, but he questioned the effectiveness of the rule.

“They still do it (take drugs) anyway,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll ever get rid of drugs, but at least they’re trying.”

The district’s ongoing anti-substance-abuse programs teach students to resist peer and societal pressures to use drugs, and try to curb drug and alcohol abuse through counseling before students are caught with drugs.

Earlier this week, Downey Police Officer Jodi Barb stood in front of a fifth-grade class at Gallatin Elementary School and lectured about the glamorization of alcohol and drug use in films and television programs, and in broadcast and print advertising.

“What’s one of the risks if you take drugs?” Barb asked the class.

‘You Could Die’

“You could die,” answered Tim Meadows.

“You could get in trouble with your mom and dad,” said Carrie Fendley, another fifth-grader.

Barb is the DARE program’s first instructor. The Downey Police Department and school district started the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program this year. Originated by the Los Angeles Police Department and city school district in 1983, the program focuses on teaching grade-school children how to resist peer pressure to use drugs, Barb said.

Barb, a six-year officer, will have taught the 17-week program to every fifth-grade class in the district’s 10 elementary schools by year’s end.

“We get them before they get much peer pressure to use drugs and hopefully before they’ve used drugs,” Barb said. “We role play and help them learn different techniques to say no.”

The district is in its second year of Project Impact.

More than 30 teachers, counselors and administrators have been trained since last year to recognize and counsel students involved with drugs and alcohol. A new program, Self Management and Resistance Training, is scheduled for next year. It’s similar to DARE, but will target seventh-grade students, said Gary Orsinger, the district’s director of secondary education.

‘The Formative Years’

Health educators associated with the University of Southern California will go into physical education classes to teach students how to resist pressure to use drugs.

“We feel that these are the formative years,” Orsinger said. “If you can hit them at that age level then the effectiveness of the instruction is better.”

Students also are taking an active role in the district’s campaign against drugs.

Students Against Driving Drunk groups at both Downey and Warren high schools offer rides on Friday and Saturday nights to students under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

At Downey High, students in the 21-member Student Council wear T-shirts every Monday that say, “Just Say No” above the crossed out word, “Drugs.”

“Most of the kids look up to the council,” said Baumann, the council president, who wore a “Say No” shirt. “They probably think using drugs is cool, but if they see us wearing it hopefully they’ll stop doing it.”

Meanwhile, district Supt. Edward Sussman called for increased state and federal assistance to help school districts in their fight against drug abuse. The district relies on both the city and civic organizations to fund DARE and Project Impact.

“You can’t educate children coming to school with drug-related problems,” Sussman said. “I really believe it’s society’s problem that schools are having to take care of.”