I'm not a big fan of zero-tolerance policies, but I see this one as spot-on. What these girls did not only broke school rules, but endangered themselves and others.

Six of the 10 varsity cheerleaders at Clear Lake High School have been removed from the squad for drinking alcohol and sent to an alternative education center.

The names of the cheerleaders were not released because of privacy laws, said Karen Permetti, spokeswoman for the Clear Creek school district.

Nancy Parker, who has served as an officer for the cheer squad's booster club, declined to comment.

While declining to discuss the specific incident, Kelly Worley, whose daughter Nicole remains on the cheerleading team, stressed, "Those removed from the squad were all really good girls. I know them personally. They are honor students from good families and did a lot for school leadership."

In addition, she said, the Clear Lake cheerleading team as a whole is a group of talented athletes whose dedication to hard work has earned them a national title.

Last year, the squad won the national championship in the Big Apple Classic in New York City and later was featured on CBS' The Early Morning Show, Permetti said.

I live in CCISD, and the local kids go to Clear Lake High School. The school board adopted a policy for those who represent the school, and I support it. If you want to be on the team or squad or other extracurricular, you have to conduct yourself properly at all times.

In support of its "zero tolerance" policy, the school board this year passed a code of conduct for extracurricular activities that expanded penalties for the use, sale or distribution of drugs or alcohol during school functions to even non-school related events off campus.

"There was a feeling that student leaders ought to be held to a standard or we ought not make them leaders. They need to accountable," said Joanna Baleson, an at-large district trustee.

The regulation requires that first offenders, such as the cheerleaders, be suspended from the squad and all other extracurricular activities for the remainder of the school year or calendar year, which ever is longer.

A second offense would result in a permanent ban from such activities.

The regulation stipulates the offenders must be moved from the regular classroom to an alternative education center for 30 days. Such centers provide instruction and counseling outside of regular classes in a more strict, structured setting.

Now I might quibble about the alternative school placement. That is't appropriate for out-of-school conduct. Nut inthis case, the alcohol use isn't in a party setting.

The two cheerleading sponsors, Kathy Thiessen and Amy Lardie, were unaware that alcohol was consumed on a school bus before the Nov. 4 football game against Bellaire High School, authorities said.

An unidentified tipster alerted a high school administrator that some of the cheerleaders may have been "under the influence" during the Bellaire game.

The district wants to enforce an alcohol-free environment for cheerleaders who are performing potentially dangerous flips and lifts, authorities said.

They were drinking on a school bus on the way to a school event, and were consuming a substance that increased the risk of injury to themselves or their fellow cheerleaders. That is thoroughly unacceptable, and justifies a harsh action being taken.

I am curouos, though, how it was that the sponsors didn't know that the girls had been drinking. How well supervised were the girls? How closely were they observed before being permitted to perform?

In the end, I applaud those involved in this case for taking the right steps to carry out a an appropriate policy to maintain discipline and student safety.

Posted by: Greg at 05:55 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 630 words, total size 4 kb.