Hard work ahead for board

It’s commendable that the Kalispell School Board is reaching out to parents for help in developing effective, workable policies on chemical use and bullying, but in the end, it will come down to some serious decision-making among board members.

The school district had a problem with a series of conduct violations last year, prompting a need for the policy review, which got under way in November with the board consulting administrators, coaches and teachers. But after that, the board concluded it should actively solicit input from parents.

True enough, it is better to get some level of buy-in from parents for policies that can be far more complicated than one might think than to develop those policies in a bubble.

What makes the current policies problematic, in our view, is that they are very rigid, making the application of discretion and fairness difficult for administrators to respond to different circumstances. On the other hand, because of privacy issues, there is sometimes a lack of transparency that allows everyone to be confident that policies are being applied even-handedly.

The district’s chemical use policy, for example, states that students in extra- or co-curricular activities will not use, have in their possession, sell or distribute tobacco or illegal drugs, nor abuse prescription or non-prescription drugs during their seasons. The rules are in effect 24 hours a day, and the high school rules take them a step further, prohibiting students to be present wherever there is illegal drug, alcohol or tobacco use happening, even if the students are not participating.

How is the use of non-prescription drugs determined to be abuse? What if a student is unwittingly in the presence of another student who is using smokeless tobacco? If they are caught, why should both students be punished the same, as they likely would under the current “one and done” policy?

With further analysis, there are probably other circumstances that would expose the current policy as flawed or possibly illegal.

So it is an issue that must be addressed. And it is good that the board wants the input of parents, but ultimately the responsibility lies with the board to represent their constituents and produce palatable, effective policies that allow for judicious responses to violations.