Greenville School Board Monday suspended a 16-year-old student for 30 days for letting another student store prescription drugs in her locker.

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Greenville School Board Monday suspended a 16-year-old student for 30 days
for letting another student store prescription drugs in her locker.
Daniel Wallace, the school district's solicitor, said Tuesday the board held
a public hearing during the board's regular meeting and determined sophomore
Jamie Rickert violated the district's drug policy because she didn't come
forward about the drugs.

Jamie testified during the hearing that she was assigned a locker she let
another girl share to store books for classes near the locker.

The other girl, whose name Wallace said isn't public information, brought in
a bottle of Concerta, a drug used to treat her attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, and kept it in Jamie's locker, Wallace said.

The girl reported to school officials Dec. 15 the bottle was missing from
Jamie's locker. High school principals spoke to Jamie Dec. 18, who admitted
she knew the bottle was in her locker but didn't know what happened to the
bottle.

The district's drug policy says students who need to take prescription
medicine during the school day must leave the bottle in the nurse's office
or allow a parent to administer the drug, Wallace said.

The girl who brought the bottle chose to voluntarily leave the school
district and enroll in Keystone Education Center, West Salem Township,
Wallace said. She could have also chosen to face a hearing before the school
board.

Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Jamie said there was no lock on her
locker and she didn't know what was in the bottle, which is still missing.

She confirmed she knew the bottle was in her locker but didn't think about
the consequences she could face if school officials found out a bottle with
prescription drugs was in her locker.

Jamie chose to have the hearing because she said she doesn't think it's fair
she got in trouble for drugs that didn't belong to her. She also didn't want
to leave the school district or be home-schooled during her suspension.

Jamie's father Tom Rickert said Jamie has never been in trouble at school
and gets good grades, but the 30-day suspension is better than one of the
board's other options to expel her for the rest of the school year.

Rickert urged other parents to become familiar with their school district's
policies in case their child is accused of a violation, mainly because
teenagers sometimes don't consider the consequences of their actions.

"I feel that when stuff like this happens to a kid, the parents need to look
into the rights of their own kid. Too many parents bow down to the school,"
Rickert said.

Whatever the prescription drug, there can be severe consequences if someone
else takes it. This is true for mental health drugs, high blood pressure
pills, antibiotics and everything else.

While the girl didn't know what was in the bottle, she let another girl
store it in her locker. The school's policy was clear that prescription
drugs are not allowed in school unless held the nurse or given by a parent.

I think that some consequences are in order. Whether it is being expelled
for the rest of the school year or a detention is a matter for debate.
Personally, I think that a week of detention is more in order than a month
of suspension, but that is not my call.

The girl made an error in judgement. She needs an education.

Jeff