Punishments in High School Drug Sting Stir Dispute : Education: Expulsion or transfer of 27 Venice High students is too harsh, some relatives and community members say.

Two months ago, he was a 15-year-old honor student and the quarterback of his junior varsity football team. Now he is appealing a high school expulsion.

The student was caught selling a $5 bag of marijuana, one of more than two dozen pupils arrested in a drug sweep at Venice High School in December. His case symbolizes what relatives and some community members say is a harsh school district policy about drug sales on campus--one, they claim, where the punishment too often exceeds the crime.

School officials have decided to expel all 27 teen-agers arrested in the recent sweep--a mix of Latino, black and white students--from the district or transfer them to another campus. They were among 157 students arrested in a citywide undercover police operation that began in September to curb high school drug sales.

Los Angeles police say the arrests come amid a resurgence of drug use among teen-agers. And school administrators say they cannot ignore the problem, especially with students arrested for alleged drug sales.

But some community members question not only the recent crackdown but also the district’s reliance on the criminal justice system.

“My nephew is a strait-laced kid with a high grade-point average and is a player on the football team,” said Olla Mitchell, the aunt of the 15-year-old former honor student who has not been identified because of his age. “He doesn’t fit the stereotype, so the powers that be want to bring him down. He’s a kind and gentle black boy, and they’ve treated him like he’s a terrorist.”

But Venice High School Principal Bud Jacobs said all the alleged offenders are being treated fairly and equally. And in the one teen-ager’s case, Jacobs said, no exception can be made regarding punishment.

“In order to maintain the sanctity of our high school campus, we’ve got to have some minimum standards,” Jacobs said. “We can work with someone using drugs, but if you’re selling, you’re not only destroying yourself but also other people. That is extremely disruptive and must be dealt with severely.”

Since their arrests, the students have been transferred to other schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Their expulsion from the district is pending the results of individual hearings, which are ongoing, before members of the district’s Board of Education.

Of the students arrested at Venice High, 17 are Latino, six are black and four are white.

Police said the majority of cases involved the sale of small amounts of marijuana ranging from a $1 joint to a $10 bag. But there were a few more serious incidents--in one, a 16-year-old sold two ounces of cocaine to an undercover officer off campus for $1,500.

But it is the honor student’s case that has drawn the most attention and galvanized opponents because, they say, the district’s policies seem sure to ruin, not rescue, the youth.

The teen-ager’s arrest Dec. 8, many point out, was a first-time offense. He was suspended and then temporarily placed in Central High School in Venice, a small continuation school.

Community members and relatives have pleaded the boy’s case to the school principal and district officials at public hearings. Football coaches have written letters praising the boy’s leadership skills and work ethic. Teachers have touted his excellent attendance record and 3.2 grade-point average. The boy spent last summer as a tutor at the Venice Library, Mitchell said.

Many of his supporters say the teen-ager’s achievements are commendable considering the pressures in the Oakwood community. Besides high unemployment and the constant temptations of the streets, a nine-month gang war--which left 17 dead and 55 wounded--ravaged the area last year.

In light of the recent violence, relatives are concerned that transferring him to a rival school could be dangerous for the high-profile football player.

Youth workers and even some school district officials say they see in the boy’s case the potential that he will become the latest victim of a disturbing pattern: A promising student relocates to another campus but ends up loitering around his old school and neighborhood friends. Attendance at the new campus drops, grades plunge and the individual ends up in an academic spiral that becomes hard to escape.

“The policy inadvertently becomes a way to exacerbate crime,” said a district official who asked to remain unidentified.

Moreover, the administrator said, the state’s strict education code leaves little leeway in drug sale cases. “Kids are divorced from their old network and they become alienated. That means less supervision and more time on their hands. They are recruited by the criminal element and then the probation department has to handle them.”

But law enforcement officials say detaining drug sellers can often benefit the offender and is critical in maintaining a healthy school environment.

“An arrest can be traumatic, but (also) can be the one thing that can turn a person’s life around, where other measures have not been successful,” said Lt. Bud Harper, who oversees the LAPD’s juvenile narcotics section. “To neutralize the consequences (of drug selling) would deflate the impact of our other educational prevention efforts.”