D.O.F., a minor and D.J.F. and M.F., his parents and natural guardians v. Lewisburg Area School District Board of School Directors, Appellant

No. 330 C.D. 2004 (Pa. Commonwealth Court, 2004)

Fact of the Case

D.O.F, a student at Lewisburg Area High School pooled money with 3 classmates. He then took the pooled money and gave it to another juvenile, off school property and after school hours, who obtained the marijuana. D.O.F. and the 3 female students smoked or attempted to smoke the marijuana at the Linntown Intermediate School playground one night after 10:30pm with a pipe obtained from another friend. The students were spotted by a police office and were arrested and charged with misdemeanor offenses of possession and use of a small amount of marijuana for personal use, conspiracy to possess and use, and possession and use of drug paraphernalia.

The Lewisburg Area High School principal was informed of the incident the next morning. After an interview with the students, D.O.F. was suspended for three days. D.O.F. was then provided with an informal hearing, after which, D.O.F. received a ten-day suspension. D.O.F. was then later issued a notice of charges from the Principal advising him that he was in violation of Board policies that had been set forth in the Student/Parent handbook and that a formal hearing would be held to determine why he should not be expelled. Following the hearing, D.O.F. was expelled with a “no earlier than” reinstatement date and stipulations that D.O.F. would participate in drug and alcohol assessment and random drug testing until graduation.
D.O.F appealed the Board’s decision to the court of common pleas claiming that the Board did not have jurisdiction in the incident since it occurred after school hours and wasn’t connected with a school-related activity or event. D.O.F. also claimed that his expulsion was defective since the other 3 students involved in the incident did not receive the same sanction. D.O.F. was reinstated after the “no earlier than” date with his appeal still pending. He was also seeking to have the expulsion expunged from his record.

The Dispute

The Lewisburg Area School Board felt that it could expel D.O.F for this incident since it occurred on school grounds.

D.O.F. claimed that the Board did not have jurisdiction over the matter since it occurred after school hours and without any connection to a school event or activity.

Decision

The court of common pleas decided that the Board had exceeded its authority since the event did not take place under Board supervision and since the event was not directly related to school related events or activities and since D.O.F.’s in-school conduct didn’t establish a connection to the incident. The Board appealed to the Commonwealth Court arguing that the trial court had erred. The Commonwealth Court upheld the decision of the court of common pleas.

Prepared by Benjamin Koch Summer 2005