When it comes to high school, an ever so recurrent theme is rebellion and most students can agree with that. As angsty teenagers, we are prone to going through a phase at one point or another, it’s a common thing to do. This phase typically involves hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing things that you may regret later in life.

Drug and alcohol abuse is all too common in high school.

Mr. Trofimuk said, “We average approximately four or five expulsions a year.”

Many would argue that through the past few years, however, within our school specifically, the abuse of our policy has skyrocketed. In the past two years, we’ve hosted eleven expulsion hearings.

According to teenrehabcenter.org, 35.1% of 12th graders have smoked pot in the past year, and when it comes to alcohol, 37.4% of 12th graders drank in the last month.

As a student, it’s not surprising to hear that most of us aren’t familiar with what our policy on drug use even entails, or what procedures are to be followed after catching a student violating the policy.

Our school’s policy states that in essence, the possession of drugs or paraphernalia within a school related function is strictly prohibited and under no circumstance will be tolerated. If a student is caught in possession of prohibited substances, they will face disciplinary action.

“Anything you can imagine that would be included, is included,” said Mr. Trofimuk. “Drugs, alcohol, weapons: they’re all expulsion worthy.”

When a student is caught violating the rules of the above stated policy, he or she is then reported to an administrator, who notifies the superintendent. The superintendent is then required to inform the school board, and the school board is presented the case and holds an expulsion hearing. This hearing is to determine if the facts of the case and the overall character of the student qualifies him or her to be expelled.

As to whether or not this policy is enforced properly is open to debate. There’s always room for growth on the stringency of seeing that our school is performing at full capacity when it comes to drug and alcohol violation

New Assistant Principal Mrs. Remensky said, “We need to make sure we’re not only following the school’s policy, but also the laws too.”

Zero tolerance is another idea that has been rumored around the district. In order to keep a student’s best educational interests prioritized, the zero tolerance policy is becoming a more apparent idea, especially within the past few years. This would mean prior to getting a parking pass, each student must resign the right to potentially perform a drug test at any point during the year.

“Everything we do in the district is in the best interest of the student,” said Mrs. Remensky.

Many students have recently questioned some policies. Some feel that it should be reconsidered how effectively and consistently the rules are enforced. As with any legal issue, there are always going to be gray areas, but the student body, parents, teachers and administrators should never question how student A’s actions would be punished as opposed to the actions of student B.

It should be of utmost importance that the students and everyone else are familiar with a clear set of rules to follow regarding issues of drug and alcohol abuse. The clarification shouldn’t be left unaddressed.

Mrs. Remensky said, “I think that our policy has been enforced with fidelity but I know the district is realigning an updated policy to aid the students to better adhere to the rules.”