A total of 76 Duneland students were expelled in the 2008-09 school year, an increase of 30 over the previous school year.

Duneland Director of Special Services Mark McKibben, who is also the school corporation’s hearing examiner, attributed the increase largely to the surge in the number of students with excessive tardies and truancies: 61 students were on probation or referred to him by the schools for being consistently late or absent last school year, compared to 45 the year before.

Students who find themselves on probation due to truancies or tardies have had to rack up a considerable number of absences. In some cases, students accumulated as many as 20 or so days of unexcused absences and 30 or so tardies, McKibben said.

Those statistics and others were included in McKibben’s annual hearing examiner’s report, which he presented Monday to the Duneland School Board.

A total of 133 students in the last school year had a disciplinary problem that prompted their placement in in due process, an increase from 96 from the year before. Of those, 95 were referred to McKibben on what is known as “Form 16,” in which the student waives their due process rights with the potential of facing expulsion.

Of those 95, 40 didn’t complete their probationary requirements and were expelled.

A total of 38 other expulsion meetings were requested. Of those, 18 failed to respond and were expelled.

A total of 57 students were placed on probation and not expelled. That number is comparable to the 50 students who were in due process in the previous school year and placed on probation.

In addition to the increase in the number of tardies and truancies, McKibben said the disciplinary problems he saw as hearing officer also included an increase in alcohol and drug violations. Twenty-nine students were referred to him last year for substance use, compared to 18 the year before.

In keeping with the national trend, McKibben said he has also seen an increase in the illicit use of prescription drugs among students, typically with the students getting into their parents’ prescriptions and using them or selling them at school.

The grade-level breakdown for the 133 Duneland students who were placed in due process was as follows: Grade 7, eight; Grade 8, six; Grade nine, 43; Grade 10, 18; Grade 11, 36; Grade 12, 22.

Also at Monday’s school board meeting, the school board honored volunteer Kent Mishler for his 10 years of service as president of the Chesterton High School’s Building Trades Board, which has worked with the CHS building trades students on construction projects.

Attonrey Greg Babcock, who is also a member of the building trades board, presented Mishler with a plaque for his years of service. Mishler will stay on the board but is stepping down as president.

The school board also granted permission to seek bids for the sewer and water line extension to the Liberty Schools. The project is expected to cost up to $500,000. Duneland Superintendent Dirk Baer said there is a possibility that Duneland might qualify for a federal grant through the economic stimulus funds.

Baer also noted that the groundbreaking for the Liberty Elementary School addition was on Monday. “Things are starting to move forward,” he said of the project.

The board also gave permission to seek tax anticipation warrants, or short-term loans, in order to keep the school corporation operating after the start of the new year. Baer said the school corporation will borrow for all funds, except the school general fund, which is now being funded through the state. He said the amounts of the loans have not yet been determined, because school officials want to see the cash flows in the remaining weeks of the year.

Also Monday, the school board rescheduled its next two meetings. The Dec. 7 meeting will now be held on Dec. 14 for any year-end business. The Jan. 4 meeting was moved to Jan. 12.

Posted 11/3/2009