OXFORD – The SAD 17 Board of Directors expelled two ninth-grade students from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School at their regular meeting on Monday.
The boys were expelled for substance abuse violations, said Superintendent Mark Eastman.
A student is automatically expelled for an indefinite period and must complete a re-entry plan with the high school principal in order to be readmitted. The plan is presented to the board and the board must be convinced that the behavior is unlikely to recur.
So far this school year, 13 students in SAD 17 have been expelled and about half that number were readmitted.
At the meeting, board members held two closed executive sessions to discuss the expulsions.
A student can be expelled if he or she is deliberately disobedient or deliberately disorderly; commits infractions of violence; possesses a firearm on school property without permission of a school official; intentionally or knowingly causes injury with any other dangerous weapon; accompanies use of a dangerous weapon with a threat to cause injury; or possesses, furnishes, or trafficks in a scheduled drug.
In other business, the high school will begin a series of workshops on March 6 for third-year students to help them prepare for the SAT on April 1, said Principal Ted Moccia.
The workshops will be staffed by teachers from the high school and will focus on test-taking strategies for the SAT, which has math, English and writing sections.
The state Department of Education last fall mandated that third-year students must take the SAT, which replaces the weeklong Maine Educational Assessment testing for third-year students.
The state will pay for all third-year students to take the test. In the past, the SAT was optional for third-year students, and students had to pay the test fee.
Moccia said breakfast and lunch will be provided on April 1, the day of the test. Parents are invited to attend the lunch, and college-related presentations will be given. All students in attendance also will be eligible to receive a scholarship upon acceptance to a post-secondary school, said Moccia.
All students who take the SAT on April 1 will have Monday, April 3, off from school.
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