NEWPORT BEACH : Principals Review Alcohol, Drug Rules

Principals in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District last week discussed amending the district’s tough “zero-tolerance” alcohol- and drug-abuse policy to include a more specific definition of school activities.

The review at the principals’ monthly meeting came in the wake of a recent disclosure that some members of the Newport Harbor High School cheerleading squad may have brought alcohol to a summer cheerleading camp. Although the trip was not school-sponsored, officials said the girls, in effect, represented the school.

Robert Francy, director of student services and summer school in the district, said the principals’ discussion centered on whether a year-old district policy under which students caught with drugs or alcohol are transferred to another school for 90 days on the first offense and expelled on the second offense, should be extended to include such off-campus activities.

“We feel the policy works,” Francy said. “There may be clarification or a footnote to the policy regarding what the definition of a school activity is.”

At their meeting, the principals tentatively agreed that school activities would be those sponsored by the schools at any time during the year, including summer and winter vacations.

But they said activities that fall outside that definition, such as ski trips or graduation class trips that are approved by the schools, but are sponsored or organized by outside entities, should not be included in the “zero-tolerance” policy.

Francy added, however, that any time the students represent their school with uniforms or other gear connected to the school, it is the administration’s prerogative to take disciplinary action if the drug or alcohol rules are broken. In the cheerleading case, the girls involved were not transferred under the zero-tolerance policy, but were temporarily suspended from the squad.