<p>Hi folks, looking for some guidance here. We're faced with a number of pretty serious decisions...</p>
<p>D, who is a senior, has failed a random drug test. A certain widely abused pharmecutical was identified. </p>
<p>There is one week left of H.S, but even though, under the school's policy we're looking at a mandatory expulsion. (PLEASE do not tell me what bad timing it is. I already know...)</p>
<p>She had accepted a place at a very good college, along with a very nice scholarship. </p>
<p>I'll ask you to put aside all of the questions and concerns about her medical condition, emotional state and so forth -- we're doing our best to come to grips with those very significant issues.</p>
<p>My specific question is this: could this endanger her scholarship at college?</p>
<p>My understanding is that she will still receive her diploma from her private day school. However, I am not sure that she will be able to complete all her classes, since she will not be there to take her final exams. 4th year French, Bio, and Am Literature are at risk, to my best knowledge.</p>
<p>We are in anguish, obviously. Any well-reasoned thoughts or personal knowledge of this type of situation are much appreciated.</p>
<p>I would make appointment with the school admins and ask for understanding and liniency. Sometimes kids use drug because of peer pressure. My kid's friend was a good kid but had drug problem too. The kid was transferred to another school in the same district.</p>
<p>I'm sorry your family is going through this.</p>
<p>In public school, there is a program called credit recovery where students can fulfill requirements for classes. Is that a summer option at her school? Are these classes needed to fulfill state requirements? If she is receiving a diploma, seems like these classes aren't too important. Or, will she just get a bad grade in those classes?</p>
<p>Don't know about expulsions, but for failing classes (or D's) our school mandates summer school (even for "graduated" seniors) and you have to pay an extra $150 for a teacher to proxy the final. Can you ask your school if you can have her take a final just after school is over? ... That is assuming they take a hard line and do not let her finish.</p>
<p>Many private schools will allow the person caught at the very end like this to take a proctored final exam ans still complete the high school requirements.</p>
<p>You need to know whether they will report this or stamp it on the transcript.</p>
<p>Assuming she is still welcomed at the college it is time to determine whether this is stupid dabbling and experimentation or an addictive problem. You can buy drug tests to administer randomly and see how she is dealing with this.</p>
<p>Also, you need to see how the summer evolves, maybe now is not the time for the freedom of college life, if she was already making risky experimentation decisions (even if it was just once) then she will be more at risk away from home and freaked out by what just happened. Could you do a gap year and give her a chance to rebuild the trust between you and her own trust in herself?</p>
<p>I would suggest some counseling, too, from some one who sees kids with drug problems. You need to discern whether there is any long term problem or just a nasty case of the "stupids" and some one who deals with kids who have addictions would know pretty quickly where she fits.</p>
<p>...random drug testing? How invasive and disgusting (imo). Though I have little advice to give you past what others have offered, my sympathies to you and your D.</p>
<p>BayArea, Wow, a lot of what ifs to deal with in a very short window of time. I think the next step may depend on the context: was this a first offence by an otherwise law-abiding student? Were there other negatives like showing up under the influence or suspicion of involvement in sale of drugs? </p>
<p>You certainly don't owe us an explanation but you need to find out from your daughter pronto the full extent of the situation before you leap into a dialogue with the school.</p>
<p>Choosing to test a senior with an otherwise clean record so close to graduation smacks of sadism -- whether the test was random or selective. If she hadn't had any disciplinary run ins up to this point, then I would think you could appeal on humanitarian grounds. For example, perhaps she could skip graduation festivities but still take make up exams.</p>
<p>My son's highschool also tested randomly. We are an international family and education options are limited so kids that stumbled often took the whole family down with them. No school, no can stay in country, no job etc. Even within this seriously devastating environment it was amazing how often kids tested positive. There is just no underestimating teenagers proclivity for high risk behavior!</p>
<p>With so much at stake plea bargaining between the family and administration was standard procedure. At times attorneys were involved. Since it is such an emotional situation, I would think that a lawyer or even a clergyman might make a better intermediary. </p>
<p>And if your daughter really is a first offender then the school's hardnosed approach could use some counter intimidation. I'm all for rules are are rules but this kind of draconian adherence to policy has far reaching ramifications.</p>
<p>I wish you and your daughter the best outcome. You sound like a caring parent. Stand by your girl. Again, assuming that she's not a heroin dealer, she doesn't deserve such severe punishment for a minor and all too common infraction.</p>
<p>I am sorry to hear about your D's situation but this is one situation as a parent, you need to have a face to face with the administration and advocate for your daughter's best interest. You also need to know the good, the bad and the ugly from your D so that when you go in, you are fully aware of situation from her end.</p>
<p>The 2 most important things that you need to know from the school are:</p>
<p>Because a final transcript must be sent as proof that the student successfully completed high school, if she is not allowed to finish her coursework including taking her finals (my guess which will be a percentage of her final grade), what grade will show up on her transcript? If she receives a failing grade or an incomplete, she could lose her scholarship or even have her admission rescinded becasue even though she has graduated, she did not successfully complete her courses or had a major slump in grades. You need to advocate her her taking her finals even if they are proctored elsewhere .</p>
<p>Will the school report the explusion and reason to the college? You need to know how the school will handle reporting the situation.</p>
<p>Edit;</p>
<p>I agree with momrath in that you need to know your child's disciplinary record. Unless this is a zero tolerance policy, you need to know what other things are happening. What is the protocol before suspension? Is there some sort of meeting or hearing before the administration? You would think that there would be just so that there is some consistency in how the school handles the situation.</p>
<p>(I am in public school and I just had a student last week who got picked up with 5 bags of marijuana and he got a superintendents supension where he will still be able to complete his course work at a suspension site and take his finals & regents exams).</p>
<p>I am sure that momofwildchild will chime in.</p>
<p>Glad to help, but my experience isn't with substance issues. I DO have experience dealing with private schools, though, but there were no random drug tests at my kids' schools. </p>
<p>You are pretty much at the whim of the administration. Now is the time for serious pleading. What you commit to is an immediate drug counseling or rehab (depending on the extent of your daughter's issue with this substance) program. What you request is for your daughter to finish up her exams and courses off-campus- as someone else mentioned, with a proctor. I is likely that your daughter has met your state's requirements for graduation and WILL get a diploma or degree. A lot will depend on whether the school is going to report this to the colleges. If they are, your daughter needs to immediately write a letter to the college admissions office and explain the situation. There is going to be a difference here depending on whether she is using cocaine or abusing Ritalin to help her get through finals. Colleges get a lot more nervous about drug incidents than about alcohol or pranks. Hopefully, your daughter can report that she got caught up in some partying at the end of senior year, used bad judgment and has learned a lesson. She can report that she is remedying her behavior and spending the summer gaining back the trust of her family and teachers.<br>
I feel for you. Perhaps the college would agree to let your daughter enter on probation with no loss of scholarship, or lose the scholarship for a semester and then it kicks back in. There is no easy answer here.
Keep us posted and feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>OP - I am also very sorry to hear about your family's situation. I agree that some examination of the school's drug testing policies are in order, but that doesn't help you or your D right now.</p>
<p>So much depends on (1) whether this was one of those "stupid senior moments" or whether it's indicative of a broader problem, (2) how the HS will handle this, and (3) how the college will react to the news. Items (1) and (2) have been addressed by previous posters. I'd suggest putting some serious thought into item (3). If the college is generally supportive of it's student body then perhaps it doesn't matter what the HS does. On the other hand if the college has draconian views on student drug use then you may have to consider to possibility that your D might not matriculate there. Obviously your D's approach to her prospective college depends on the answers to items (1) and (2). Good luck, and best wishes.</p>
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<p>My understanding is that she will still receive her diploma from her private day school. >></p>
</blockquote>
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<p>OK...call me dense. BUT doesn't the school have graduation requirements? If she is not finishing the courses, how is she getting the diploma? Maybe they are allowing her to finish the course. Maybe they are giving her grades as they stand now. You need to find this out.</p>
<p>I'm flummoxed that a school would give a diploma out to someone who is (maybe??) not completing their course requirements for graduation.</p>
<p>Chances are that there are plenty of kids at your D's college who drink underage, smoke some pot, and occasionally take other drugs. While the college would undoubtedly prefer that this was not the case, they probably don't want instances of it to be thrust under their noses, more or less forcing them to take action. I know that when I was in college, if everyone who smoked pot had been expelled, the campus would have been awfully empty. Things have changed since then, but still, the attitude at most campuses we visited seemed to be non-punitive, with concern for the safety of the students first. They wanted students to be able to bring dangerously intoxicated peers to the infirmary without fear of being ratted out.</p>
<p>Similarly, I doubt that your D's school really wants to deep-6 the college acceptance and scholarship of an about-to-graduate senior (unless that senior has been a real problem, which I doubt).</p>
<p>First, I would get the whole truth from your D. You cannot go to bat for her if you are going to be blindsided by news of some other infraction. (And, if she does seem to be drifting towards habitual drug use, you want to be able to address that before she leaves the house.) Getting the whole truth may involve listening calmly to stuff that makes you want to scream.</p>
<p>Secondly, you want to be able to approach the school (the HS, that is--you don't want this to ever reach the college) and work with them to find a way to resolve the situation that neither tanks your daughter's scholarship, nor makes a mockery of the school's substance abuse policy. Getting a copy of that policy and reading it would be a first step, if you haven't already done so. You might also want to research steps that your D could take to convince them that she is going to address the situation. Looking into local NA meetings that she might attend, for example. </p>
<p>I agree with everyone who says go in and plead. But I also suggest that you lawyer up. Not with an aggressive, take-no-prisoners approach from Day 1, but the school should know that you are getting advice and that someone may be looking over its shoulder.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, a couple of years ago the private school I know best caught ten seniors with a small amount of drugs on a school trip during spring vacation. School policy clearly mandated immediate suspension for the remainder of the semester for all of them. They were all suspended for a week. The school also notified their colleges, and three kids had acceptances withdrawn (by a college whose name is practically a by-word for substance abuse), but it was mid-April so they all found a place to land fairly easily.</p>
<p>Most schools really don't want to ruin the lives of graduating seniors. You will probably be able to work something out. You need to find a way for the school to demonstrate its toughness, and to show how seriously it takes its anti-drug program, without doing something completely wanton.</p>
<p>thumper, my take on why she could still earn a diploma is that her senior-year coursework could be above and beyond the state's graduation requirements. For instance, if she's taking a fourth or fifth year of a language, but the state requires only three years, then maybe it's not as big a deal.</p>
<p>I would still like a clarification. In MY state (for public high schools) there is a minimun COURSE CREDIT requirement for high school graduation. These are courses that must be taken on the high school level. In the public school, if you didn't receive credit for your senior year courses, it is very unlikely that you would be able to graduate. </p>
<p>I do understand that private schools can do whatever they please. I'm just curious how a diploma will be given if the senior year is not completed.</p>
<p>In any event...I think being honest is the right way to go with the colleges. In the end, the college will make a determination if they will continue to accept this student and provide the scholarship with the circumstances provided.</p>
<p>I agree with what others have said. The only additional thing I would like to suggest is seeking out one (or more) of your Ds current or past teachers who likes D and would be willing to go to the schools admin on her behalf. Good luck.</p>
<p>I am so sorry for this development. I can only imagine the distress it has caused for your family.</p>
<p>but I'm going with JHS on this one. GET A LAWYER and someone who is familiar with family/education/criminal law. Maybe some of the attorneys on board can give you better info. In fact I would suggest you start a new thread "Help, I need legal advice" or something like that asking advise from some of the attorneys who frequent this board.
I'd also think about going into the school ASAP and speak to the headmaster (or whatever). I would listen to what they say, but I would not give them any info. If it is something that cannot be resolved by Monday PM, I'd be back at school on Tuesday with legal counsel.</p>
<p>I know nothing about private schools, but my guess is- if you are in an environment that randomly tests graduating seniors right before graduation, you are not going to get any satisfaction from this group of bozos!! </p>
<p>I hope everything works out for you and your family.</p>
<p>In Dallas we had a kid expelled from a top private for serious drugs at the end of junior year. She had enough credits to simply start at junior college and, essentially, finish high school at the same time she was in junior college. State requirements can be quite a bit less than private school graduation requirements.
Another kid I know who was booted from a private boarding school right before graduation for a silly (but final straw) infraction (girl in the dorm room) and not allowed to get a diploma until he had completed a semester of college. He had finished high school GRADUATION requirements, and the college (LAC in Colorado) did not pull his acceptance, although he had been admitted for a January start in the first place.</p>
<p>Colleges get a lot more nervous about drug stuff than you might think, but so much depends on the particular dean of admissions.</p>
<p>I'm still a little shocked about the random drug tests.</p>