Student expulsions get hearing

A school board hearing will be held today for two of three students expelled from Priest River High School for exposing themselves to another student during a school-sponsored trip to Nelson, B.C., more than two weeks ago.

The parents of two of the students are appealing the punishment, which included banning the students from the high school campus and prohibiting them from participating in school activities such as the prom and the graduation ceremony in June, said Michael McGuire, superintendent of the West Bonner School District.

The students, who were not named by the school, can complete their high school careers at the district’s alternative high school, McGuire said. He also said he isn’t sure if the third student plans to appeal the punishment.

All student disciplinary hearings are private, but any decision the school board makes must be voted on in public.

The punishments stem from a trip the Priest River Lamanna High School band made to Nelson for a music competition the weekend of April 21. The three seniors videotaped themselves exposing their genitals over a freshman boy’s face while he was sleeping, authorities said.

“It was far, far, far more than would ever be appropriate,” McGuire said. “The father of the student that they pranked happened to be on the trip and insisted that (the Nelson police) press charges.”

The three were arrested and spent about 10 hours in the Nelson jail before being released on bond, McGuire said. Phone calls to the Nelson police regarding the status of the case were not returned.

About 40 students on the trip returned home without playing in the competition.

Students are circulating a petition calling for the three expelled students to be allowed back in school and at prom and graduation, but McGuire said he doesn’t know if that can change anything. That would be up to the school board, he said.

“I’ll inform the board of it, but I don’t know,” he said. “The board could take any action they wish.”

School board member Galen Miller said he won’t comment until after the hearing.

In his first year as superintendent, McGuire said he’s been told by a parent who has chaperoned the band trip for many years that nothing like this has happened on past trips.

“It isn’t indicative of the high school or the band,” he said. “It’s just really sad for all concerned.”