Stephanie Lovett-Bowman, Thursday, October 07, 2010 | Filed under: Discipline, School Board Policies
As Homecoming season continues, school districts may want to re-examine their alcohol and drug policies for sufficient clarity. Unless they are carefully drafted, such policies may be vulnerable to challenge. For example, an Alabama court recently found a school district’s alcohol and drug policy to be too vague to pass the court’s muster. The Monroe County Board of Education’s policy stated that “no student shall carry, possess, or use drugs, drug paraphernalia, or alcohol” at a school function. Pursuant to this policy, Excel High School suspended a student who came to the school’s prom last spring after having ingested alcohol. The student did not have any alcohol on his person at the dance.
The Monroe County Board of Education disciplined the student because it interpreted its policy to include a student who has used alcohol shortly before attending school or a school-sponsored function or who is under the influence of alcohol while at school or at a school-sponsored function. But an Alabama court disagreed. The court concluded that the policy was unconstitutionally vague because it was unclear whether any student should have known that drinking alcohol before arriving at the prom constituted “use” of alcohol at a school function, which would trigger disciplinary measures. The court struck down the policy and reinstated the student at his high school.