cannabisnews.com: Student Appeal Denied, but Hearing Set! 





Student Appeal Denied, but Hearing Set! 
Posted by FoM on August 21, 1999 at 08:27:48 PT
By Ken Carlson, Bee Staff Writer
Source: Modesto Bee
MANTECA -- Travis McPherson, a Sierra High School student disciplined for allegedly smoking marijuana, cannot attend school with his classmates when the fall semester begins Monday, a San Joaquin County Superior Court judge ruled Friday. 
But his parents' lawsuit against Manteca Unified School District will be heard in court next month, the judge decided.  Greg and Virginia McPherson, Travis' parents, have taken their battle with Manteca Unified School District into the legal arena.  According to the McPhersons' lawsuit filed earlier this week, their son received unfair treatment from school officials after he and two classmates were accused of smoking marijuana May 25.  A Sierra High campus monitor stopped the trio as they returned from lunch break in one of the students' car. School officials then threatened to call the police if the boys would not confess to smoking the drug, the suit alleges. The boys confessed in writing, but searches of the car, their backpacks and lockers produced no marijuana.  One of the students passed a drug test the next day; Travis and another student tested negative for marijuana 14 days later.  School officials ordered McPherson to attend Manteca High School in the fall, a disciplinary transfer that bars him from high school athletics his senior year. His two friends received the same punishment.  Tuesday night, district trustees rejected an appeal by the students' parents.  The McPhersons' lawsuit accuses Manteca Unified of abuse of process, defamation and unfair practices, and urges the court to nullify the disciplinary action.  Thomas Driscoll Jr., a Lodi attorney representing the McPhersons, asked the judge Friday to suspend the disciplinary action while the court considers the case.  School officials and a district lawyer urged Smith to refuse the request.  Smith denied the temporary restraining order and scheduled a Sept. 13 hearing on the lawsuit before Judge K. Peter Saiers.  The McPhersons are trying to move Travis to a school other than Manteca High until the case is decided.  "The emotional stress and the mistrust will disrupt any constructive education he may get at Manteca High," Virginia McPherson said. Pubdate: August 21, 1999  Copyright © The Modesto Bee. Manteca Boys Lose Pot Appeal - 8/17/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2524.shtml
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