Lake Highlands High School had its moment in the limelight this morning during reporter Cynthia Vega’s standup discussing RISD’s new student drug/alcohol policy during WFAA’s morning news show. There was no real reason she was in front of LHHS, other than it was probably the closest RISD high school to WFAA’s downtown studios, but the RISD drug/alcohol policy message was clear: One mistake, and you receive a 20-day probation that includes exclusion from exracurricular activities; get caught using alcohol or drugs a second time, and you’re excluded from extracurricular activites for the remainder of the school year — supposedly no ifs, ands or buts. And the policy applies to cheerleaders, too. As a parent of a couple of teens, I know the stuff is out there and it’s not that hard to figure out which kids are doing what. It will be interesting, though, to see how many kids wind up facing the music.
Note: I revised this post after a receiving a note from RISD board chairman Luke Davis, who correctly pointed out that I hadn’t originally explained the policy properly. He also pointed out that during a student’s high school enrollment, he or she is eligible for only one probationary period; that the student is removed from school-related leadership positions for the entire year after a first offense; and satisfactory completion of the probation period requires the student and a parent/guardian to attend a drug/alcohol education program. If you would like to review the guidelines yourself, click here and you’ll see a letter from RISD and the link.
