ksasma - 01 May 2008 08:27 PM

Southern’s policy was revised a few years ago, and as far as I know was never applied to a family situation.  The few times I know of where the policy was applied involved student parties where alcohol was present and available for the students to consume.

And isn’t that the same situtation that has occurred here in Southeastern?  And the board has decided to overlook?

The bottom line is that there are two main factors that need to be incorprated into a newly written policy.  1) Terminology such as the word “illegal” needs to be included to account for family and other social gatherings where no minors are consuming drugs and/or alcohol.  2) There needs to be some type of burden of proof that lies with the school district.

I do not like blanket policies such as this.  Each incident and each situation needs to be looked into and investigated seperately.  Someone having a few drinks of wine with their family at New Year’s dinner and a student attending a keg party with other minors are two totally different situations and need to be treated as such.

I dont believe that there needs to be any change.  The policy is not meant to supplant any legal reprecussions for a student’s actions.  I do not believe for an instant that the board would pursue an action against a student that is involved in a party or such with thier parents.  But the involvement of a student in a party that includes alcohol, that is intended for consumption by the students, then that is an issue.  Everyone knows the difference between these two different situation, and for the life of me, I cannot see why people are getting so spun up about this.

JustPlainC - 02 May 2008 10:31 AM

I dont believe that there needs to be any change.  The policy is not meant to supplant any legal reprecussions for a student’s actions.  I do not believe for an instant that the board would pursue an action against a student that is involved in a party or such with thier parents.  But the involvement of a student in a party that includes alcohol, that is intended for consumption by the students, then that is an issue.  Everyone knows the difference between these two different situation, and for the life of me, I cannot see why people are getting so spun up about this.

Ah, but you would be wrong. It appears there was a student punished for attending a family party where the adults were drinking alcohol.

The photo was of the Chesnavage family’s private New Year’s Eve party, she said. There was beer visible in the photo, but neither her daughter nor any of the other minors at the family party were drinking, she said.

The school stripped her daughter of all extra-curricular activities, effectively denying her a varsity letter in soccer, Tina Chesnavage said.

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_9138585?IADID=Search-ydr.inyork.com-ydr.inyork.com

Ah, but you would be wrong. It appears there was a student punished for attending a family party where the adults were drinking alcohol.

I have not seen the photo in question.  I suspect there is a lot more to it than we know.  Personally, I would have to take the context of the photo into consideration.  But, if as you say, she was simply at the family party, the the punishment would indeed be unwarranted.