Judge Overturns Student’s Transfer Over Drug Policy

In a ruling that may lead to a review of Newport-Mesa’s “zero tolerance” policy, a college-bound senior expelled over suspicions he had been smoking marijuana has won the right to return to Corona del Mar High School, his attorney said Monday.

The student, Ryan Huntsman, said the empty zip-lock bag and pipe that a police officer found in his car two months ago belonged to a friend. The 18-year-old took and passed a drug test to prove his innocence, said David Shores, the student’s attorney.

But school officials concluded that he had violated their “zero tolerance” policy by being caught with drug paraphernalia--the pipe--and ordered that he attend a different school, Newport Harbor.

Huntsman challenged the transfer in court, saying that school officials did not adequately allow him the right to defend himself before effectively expelling him from Corona del Mar, where he has been enrolled since his freshman year.

On Monday, a judge ruled in Huntsman’s favor.

“I immediately called all my friends and told them that we had won, and that I’ll see them all at school on Monday,” said Huntsman, who is on spring break this week. “It has been tough. . . . I’m so excited that it’s finally over.”

Serene Stokes, vice president of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, said officials will reconsider the punishments meted out under the district’s anti-drug policy, especially for students who are in the same situation as Huntsman.

In Monday’s one-page ruling, Superior Court Judge Robert Thomas wrote that the 90-day suspension imposed by the school district in Huntsman’s case was the “functional equivalent of an expulsion” since there were less than 90 school days left before Huntsman’s June 18 graduation.

Therefore, Huntsman was effectively denied his due process rights, which would have required that he merely be suspended, not expelled, authorities said.

“We had never looked at it that way, so we’ll have to look at it,” Stokes said. “I think [the ruling] may redefine the policy somewhat for seniors. But in general, I don’t think it’s going to make too much of a difference.”

School officials have not decided whether they will appeal the judge’s ruling.

In the 1996-’97 school year, 72 students in the 1,100-student school district were transferred to different schools within the district for drug or alcohol violations, district officials said.

“I really think the policy has curbed the use of drugs and alcohol in schools,” Stokes said. “We always have to look at it and see if there are room for improvements. But overall, it’s been such a deterrent.”

Huntsman’s brush with authorities began Feb. 18, when a Newport Beach officer stopped the teenager for playing his car stereo too loud. In a subsequent search, which Shores alleged was illegal, the officer found the drug paraphernalia and reported it to the school, which suspended Huntsman the next day.

On March 3, Thomas ordered that Huntsman be allowed to go to Corona del Mar while the issue was being decided. School trustees upheld Huntsman’s suspension earlier this month, but that decision was overturned by Thomas in Monday’s ruling.

“Justice prevailed,” said Huntsman’s mother, Kathleen. “Hopefully, we can put this behind us and Ryan can graduate with his class.”

“I just have to do really really well from now until the end of the year, or else I might not graduate,” said Huntsman, a yearbook staff member who also had played on the golf team. “But then again, I don’t think they would want to deal with me for another year.”