After drunk students, MCPS school board reviews conduct policy

WASHINGTON — A school system’s decision to allow six students to graduate — despite reports they had allegedly went to their prom drunk — has generated a policy review.
The Montgomery County Board of Education’s Policy Management Committee held a meeting Tuesday to discuss possible changes to the way schools handle situations where students have violated the student code of conduct.
As part of the discussion, the school board committee looked at how other districts handle drinking and alcohol use by students. In Anne Arundel County, for example, students who violate the board’s policies on alcohol — or other controlled substances — are barred from taking part in all senior activities, including commencement. In Fairfax County, students can be suspended from taking part in all school-sponsored activities, but graduation isn’t mentioned specifically. In Howard County, graduating seniors can appeal a decision to be barred from graduation ceremonies.
The Montgomery County policy actually discourages principals from barring students from commencement, and Deb Ford, the PTSA president at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, thinks that’s a mistake. Being able to use attendance at the graduation ceremony as leverage over seniors “is truly the only thing that will resonate with high school students,” Ford said.
“Anything else, they can just blow off,” she added....

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/07/drunk-students-montgomery-co-school-board-reviews-conduct-policy/