Students caught with drugs are apparently going unreported to police at Loyola Blakefield ? a policy some other private schools disagree with.
Parents have said at least four students have been expelled from the school for drug-related offenses, including one in early May. Police said they did not respond to any drug busts at the school that week.
Police should be called when drugs are confiscated, said Mount St. Joseph High School spokesman Joseph Schuberth.
Authorities also said the school would have an obligation to report drugs as evidence of a crime. Unlike private schools, many public schools employ security officers drawn from the police, who are legally obligated to file charges if drugs are confiscated.
Compared to other private, all-boys high schools, Loyola has a quiet process for expelling students. The school?s president, the Rev. Thomas Pesci, sent an e-mail to parents Friday that said discipline is handled among students, parents and school officials.
Some parents of expelled students have said the process should be formalized and considered by a review board.
At Mount St. Joseph, Schuberth said expulsions are handled on a case-by-case basis but will usually include meetings including the principal, dean of students and guidance counselors.
At Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, Assistant Principal Roger Czerwinski said all dismissals are considered bya board made up of three faculty members, the accused student?s guidance counselor and the assistant principal himself.
“Certain things are automatic [suspensions] ? drugs, alcohol, weapons. ? They still go before the board,” Czerwinski said.
Because it is under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Curley has an appeals process that allows parents or students to go through the principal and on up to the diocese if they feel the school?s policies are not being properly followed.
Disciplinary recommendations at McDonough High School are handed down by the student-faculty honor council, said Lynn McKain, the school?s director of public relations. In especially serious cases, the grade-level deans, head of the high school, headmaster and school psychologist are all called in, she said.
The Park School was an exception to the zero-tolerance approach, with a policy stating that drug use is seldom deterred by harsh penalties. Instead, first-time offenders can be enrolled in a long-term process that includes suspension; medical and psychiatric evaluation; counseling; an anti-drug research project; and community service.
Rob White, dean of students at Baltimore?s Gilman School, said disciplinary procedures are not discussed outside of the school. Officials from Calvert Hall and Boys Latin did not return requests for comment as of Friday evening.
