“What I really wanted was for the school system to have processes in place . . . not to blow the whole thing totally out of proportion,” said her mother, Helen Russell, 49.
Such cases have stirred discussion about what Virginia law requires and how much it dictates disciplinary policies in the state’s largest school system. In recent weeks, Superintendent Jack D. Dale has defended the policies, saying that they are balanced and that school transfers offer a positive alternative to expulsion.
Answer Sheet
Dale did not agree to a request to be interviewed for this article.
Experts say Virginia law mandates some disciplinary action for certain offenses but allows local school systems to decide such matters as the type of punishment and the amount of time spent out of class. Few other Virginia systems, for example, use school transfers as routinely as Fairfax does as part of the disciplinary process, according to the state Department of Education.
“It’s a tough issue,” said William C. Bosher Jr., a professor of public policy at Virginia Commonwealth University and a former state superintendent of public instruction. “You want to send a clear message that drugs in any form will not be tolerated. You also want to send a clear message that the school system will use its judgment in each and every case.”
‘This is crazy’
For Hayley, now 14, the first year of middle school, seventh grade, was not smooth. The acne that plagued her in fifth and sixth grades threatened a comeback. The social intrigues of early teenage life grew more vexing.
Her parents, who own a specialty store called Metro Run & Walk in Springfield, passed many evenings shuttling Hayley to basketball practices around Herndon, where they live. Their two eldest children were in college, and their third child had died of a seizure at age 9 in 2004. Martin Russell, who was 21 months older than Hayley, had epilepsy and disabilities from a brain injury at birth.
Chatty by nature, with an appreciation for sarcasm, Hayley fared better on the basketball court — where she plays in top leagues for her age group — than she did in the halls of Carson.
At one point, she drew an in-school suspension for a day for physically harassing a friend, records show. At another, her parents said they asked for meetings with school officials because they thought Hayley was being harassed and tormented.
Even so, Hayley’s grades at Carson were mostly B’s, with some A’s. Many of her teachers said she was bright and capable, according to school records, but many also said she was overly social and often sidetracked in class.
Hayley’s acne medication was reported by two girls who saw the bottle in her locker and told an administrator that they were worried about her. The Russells contend that the girls wanted to get Hayley in trouble.
What is clear is that on May 3, 2010, Hayley was taken out of history class by an administrator. Did she have drugs? No, she said. Medication?
Hayley said she then remembered the pills she’d brought to school nearly eight months earlier, when her skin was breaking out and a dermatology visit was days away. Hayley had interpreted her mother’s words about the expired drug — “just take it” — as yes, it could go to school.
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