A drug dealer solicited kids to purchase drugs from him. The kids gave the drug dealer money, but minutes later requestd there money back. The drug dealer gave the kids their money back. Then the drug dealer offered money to 2 other kids in the school to do bodily harm to the kids he had to refund for the drugs he tired to sell them. One of the kids he sold the drugs to was put out of the school. The drug dealer only received a 4 day suspension.
Based on what you have written, this was an insupportably bad decision. Of course, it would be interesting to hear the defense of the decision from those who made it...
You have the right to go to a public meeting of the local school board or district -- by yourself or as a group of parents who shared in their feelings of disapproval -- and make a long and loud fuss about this. You have the right to write letters of complaint and disapproval to your local media outlets -- newspapers, television stations, etc. You have the right to initiate legal proceedings to recall from office any elected official who supported or supports this decision. You have the right to demand that the decision be revisited by the principal or the school board and reconsidered in light of the disapproval of the school community. In short, you have a number of rights to raise your voice(s) and disapprove. And you may be surprised at how strongly public expressions of disapproval are felt by local officials.
It would nice if we could expel all the "bad" children in the public school system so that the "good/nice" kids could learn. Unfortunately, the municipality has a legal obligation to educate all the children living in the district. If they expel a student, they need to provide home schooling, which costs money that the districts do not have.
Can you do that which the attorney from CA has suggested; absolutely. You can also report this student to the police for dealing drugs and for attempted assault and battery, and soliciting others to do harm to another. If convicted, then the student, assuming a minor, will be placed in the juvenile justice system. If being close to age 18, the prosecutor will have the choice whether or not to try this individual as an adult, which can mean heavy duty jail time.
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I do not recall if NJ has adopted an anti-bullying statute as of yet, but in light of the suicide of Tyler Clemente, the Rutgers University student, a trial is taking place at this time and the public has become more aware of this, with some experts calling it an epidemic.
If your kids bought drugs, even if they returned them, they broke the rules (as well as the law), and are likewise subject to discipline. Someone was constantly bullying me in grade school. On the bus I got fed up and punched him. I did not instigate it, but I broke the rule-no fighting on the bus or school grounds. We were both required to take private transportation for a month despite the fact the principal knew the other kids was a trouble maker.
