No Evidence for School Suspension, Senior Says

NEWPORT BEACH — In what an attorney described as a case of “zero tolerance” run amok, a Corona del Mar High School student claims he was suspended and transferred to another school after a police officer suspected--but found no evidence--that he may have used marijuana.

Ryan Huntsman, a college-bound high school senior, was stopped by a Newport Beach police officer Feb. 19 for playing his car’s radio too loud. According to his attorney, the officer searched his vehicle and found an empty zip-lock plastic bag and a pipe. Huntsman was cited for noise pollution but not marijuana possession. Still, he ran into trouble when the police report was forwarded to school officials, the attorney said.

“I respect zero tolerance in schools but there’s got to be limits,” said attorney David Shores, who said his client also took a drug test, which came back negative. “They have exceeded the scope of their authority.”

Today, Huntsman and Newport-Mesa School District officials will square off in Orange County Superior Court when a judge will be asked to order the district to reverse its decision.

School district officials declined to discuss the 18-year-old’s case specifically but interim Supt. Robert Francy said all students must abide by a strict anti-drug policy. This isn’t the first dispute of its kind.

“We have had similar situations,” Francy said. “If it’s a violation of drug or alcohol possession, or use on campus or [occurs] going to or from school, the board’s policy is to transfer on the first offense and I believe that is the issue here.”

In the 1996-97 school year, 45 students in the 1,100-student school district were transferred to another school for marijuana violations and an additional 27 students were transferred for alcohol use, according to district officials.

Francy said he sees the policy as a “strong deterrent” to drug and alcohol use on or around campus.

But Shores, an Irvine-based attorney, maintains that the district overstepped its authority in this instance.

He said his client was not going to or from school at the time of the traffic stop, but was on his way home from an appointment with a college counselor. He also said the pipe, which was confiscated by police, belonged to Huntsman’s friend.

Huntsman has not attended classes since his suspension last month. His attorney said that if his client loses in court today, he must enroll at Newport Harbor High School so he can graduate.

Huntsman, who said he has a 3.0 grade-point average, is afraid that the situation will damage his chances of being accepted into one of the colleges he has applied to, including USC, UC San Diego and Loyola Marymount.

“If it was warranted, I would see no problem with it,” he said. “But I think [there’s] an unfairness in it.”

Francy disagreed.

“Students who are college-bound should be extraordinarily careful,” Francy said. “It’s not like students aren’t aware of this policy. Ultimately, some students might have more to lose than others and need to be mindful of that.”

Huntsman is a member of the school’s yearbook staff and played on the golf team for three years. Students who are transferred to other schools under the “zero tolerance” policy can no longer participate in sports under state regulations, Francy said.

Huntsman’s mother, Kathleen, calls the situation “disheartening.” She denies that her son smoked marijuana and said a urine test administered after he was cited showed no trace of any drugs. She said she offered the test results to district officials who she said were unwilling to listen.