6 Students Expelled After Drug Sting Arrests in Fall

Six Huntington Beach high school students were expelled this week after their arrests last fall in a police undercover drug probe, school district officials said. But at least four of them are doing well in programs elsewhere in the county, according to their parents.

Doris Longmead, an administrator with the Huntington Beach Union High School District, said the school board voted Tuesday night to expel the six youths, whose names were not released.

The board also recommended that the students enroll in drug counseling programs, said Longmead, who also heads the district’s expulsion review panel.

Parents of four of the youths said Wednesday that their sons have either been enrolled in other programs or that they are pursuing their education in other ways. The other youths and their families could not be reached for comment.

‘Decided to Make the Best’

“We decided to make the best out of a bad situation,” said one parent, who requested anonymity to protect her child’s identity. “My son is scheduled to take proficiency exams in March, and he’s studying diligently (at a local college). He’s going to pass.”

Another mother, whose son was a senior, said the expulsion actually helped to knock some sense into him: “It was the brick wall he needed. It made him realize where he was headed,” said the woman, who also asked that her name be withheld.

The six were among eight students arrested last Nov. 11 and 12 after an eight-week undercover drug investigation by police officers posing as students on four high school campuses. The eight were booked on suspicion of selling small amounts of cocaine and marijuana to undercover officers.

One case was dropped for insufficient evident, and another student’s case has been postponed, law enforcement officials said.

Three of the remaining six face trial in Orange County Juvenile Court on Jan. 25 on charges that carry a maximum penalty of probation until age 21 or incarceration for a maximum of five years, Deputy Public Defender Dean Allen said.

She’ll Seek Probation

Carol Lavacot, also a deputy public defender who represents three of the students, said she will try to get the juveniles placed on informal probation.

“Every minor has the right to be individually evaluated by the Probation Department to see if he is better treated on an informal basis (such as through counseling),” Lavacot said. If the court denies informal probation, she said she will go to trial, using entrapment as a defense.

“They’re in this situation because it was instigated by the police,” Lavacot said.

The students, themselves, have contended that they were befriended by an undercover agent and enticed into selling drugs, something they would not have done on their own.

And some of the parents, while they may not believe that their sons were blameless in the incidents, are upset at the treatment their children have received from school authorities. Many have decried the penalties, such as expulsion, as far more severe than the incidents themselves warranted.

The expelled students and their parents can appeal the expulsion order to the Orange County Department of Education, said Bill Ybarra, the department’s coordinator of student services. So far, none has appealed, but Ybarra said one parent recently inquired about the procedure.

Considering a Lawsuit

Mary Robarge said she is considering filing a lawsuit over the incident involving her son, and the treatment he has received. “It’s very hard. From the very beginning, the school (district) said what my son did was wrong. He screwed up and that was that,” Robarge said.

When she and her son attended a school district hearing on the drug arrests in December, they both walked out.

Another parent, who asked not to be named, described the hearing as “an inquisition. . . . It was the most horrendous experience ever, seeing one high school principal play prosecutor. It was very intimidating.”

Robarge, 31, a widow from Huntington Beach who supports three children on Social Security checks, said she drives 15 miles daily to Garden Grove so that her son can attend Horizons, a county alternative high school. Since she can’t afford to drop him off and return later to pick him up, she waits in her car for an hour each day until he finishes his independent studies.

But Robarge refuses to follow the school board’s recommendation that he also enroll in a drug-counseling program. “He doesn’t even have a drug problem,” she said.

The expelled students can petition for readmittance at the end of the school year. District officials said there would have to examine their records and activities between the time of expulsion and any request for readmittance, and particularly their efforts to seek drug counseling.

But Robarge, for one, said she would not even consider sending her son back to Ocean View High School. “I don’t want him to go back . . . not after the stinker they pulled,” she declared.