 | Not Cool in School: Double Standards at Invercargill High School |
 Invercargill: The James Hargest High School board of trustees is standing by its decision to allow four boys who committed indecent assault to remain at school, while kicking out another pupil for smoking cannabis.
The first incident, in May, involved an indecent assault on a 13-year-old third form girl during school time. Her mother said the girl was tackled and pinned to the ground by two boys. Another boy held up her skirt while a fourth indecently assaulted her. The boys were only stood down for four days and made to write letters of apology to the girl.
A month later, Scott Irvine ( 14 ) was suspended, then expelled, after he admitted smoking cannabis while he stood with a group of other pupils. At the time, he was out of school uniform, away from the grounds and out of school time.
The parents of the two children accused the school of getting their priorities wrong. The mother of the girl who was assaulted said her daughter's incident was the more harmful. The parents of Scott Irvine have backed him up and complained to the press. A local policeman and a youth worker contacted by the press also attacked the decision by the school.
 08/07/03 Cannabis Punishment Under Fire
 08/07/03 School exclusions ‘archaic’ claim Greens
09/07/03 High School Caned Over Drugs Issue
10/07/03 MP's Suggestion 'Nuts'
10/07/03 Independent discipline review works for victims too
11/07/03 High School Defends Its Two Policies
 11/07/03 The shame of James Hargest High
24/07/03 Hargest Decisions Defended
Cannabis Punishment Under Fire
Southland Times, 8th July 2003
James Hargest High School had inflicted a punishment more severe than the police or judicial system could ever have done when it excluded a 14-year-old third form student last month, the boy's family claimed.
Margaret Irvine said her son, Scott, could be out of school for up to three months until another school was found to take him.
Scott was excluded from James Hargest, in Invercargill, after an incident involving cannabis away from the school grounds and outside school hours.
Ms Irvine said the school had followed an approach that stripped Scott of his right to go to school and failed to offer him or his family any counselling or support.
In an incident report, principal Paul O'Connor says a teacher approached a group of boys standing on the corner of Ward and Layard Streets about 4.40pm on Tuesday, June 3.
"He found the boys in a close group at the karate centre with smoke rising and a smell of marijuana." Scott was interviewed by a senior teacher at the school three days later.
No adult support person was present despite Ms Irvine's request to be with her son when he was questioned.
During the interview Scott admitted he had a rolled mini cigar with some cannabis in it.
Mr O'Connor decided to suspend Scott on June 13 because his gross misconduct was a dangerous example to other students.
Scott was not given any school work to do while he waited for the school board meeting on June 19 which decided to exclude him from school.
Mrs Irvine said the punishment did not fit the crime and there were other students using and dealing cannabis at the school.
"It's like they don't want to acknowledge the problem. They want to keep it out of the school." Scott was supported at the disciplinary meeting by his uncle, Detective Senior Sergeant Brian Hewett.
Mr Hewett said Scott would still be at school if the incident had been handled through the justice system, and James Hargest would have been none the wiser.
"Any interview would have been carried out with him having a support person present. He would also have been given his Bill of Rights ... that he was entitled to consult and instruct a solicitor and his right to silence."
While the school did not have to follow that procedure, it meant that its penalty was more severe than any imposed by the police or judicial system.
As a 14-year-old, Scott would have been dealt with by Youth Aid and would probably have been warned, he said. The school would not have been advised because Scott's privacy would have been protected.
The school had operated as investigator, prosecutor and judge, he said.
No cannabis had been found so the only real evidence against Scott was his own admission. "They're putting kids on the scrapheap when they shouldn't be there."
But the board's decision could be challenged.
"There is the potential for a judicial review through the courts for any decision that the school disciplinary board made, as everybody is entitled to natural justice," Mr Hewett said.
Both he and Ms Irvine said they did not condone cannabis use but felt the school's handling of the situation, and others like it, could have serious consequences.
Ms Irvine: "It's not just about Scott but for the people before him and the people after him."
James Hargest board disciplinery hearings committee chairman Rex Chapman declined to comment yesterday.
Mr O'Connor and board chairman Murray Frost could not be reached for comment.
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