By ALAN PERROTT
One in eight students at a Bay of Plenty high school was suspended last year - a figure the school blames on drug addictions among pupils as young as 13.
The suspension rate at Opotiki College was the highest in the country for the second year in a
row.
In 2001, there were 57 suspensions among the roll of 490 students, a rate of 11.6 per cent, but despite adopting a hard line on marijuana, that rate rose to 13.6 per cent last year, 64 out of 471.
Acting principal Robyn Harris said statistics did not matter when third-formers arrived with entrenched drug addictions.
"When we talk about young people with addictions nobody wants to answer our questions," she said.
The school's only answer was zero tolerance towards marijuana, said Ms Harris.
Last month, a police drug detection team ran a sniffer dog through the school and found no evidence of the drug.
"It doesn't matter to us or our board what's being said about us ... Our students have the right to be in classrooms without other students being under the influence of drugs."
The suspension figures issued yesterday by the Act Party list the schools with the highest rate of suspensions as Opotiki College (13.6 per cent), Huntly College (12 per cent), Whangaroa College (11.7 per cent) and Kawerau College (11.6 per cent).
Tikipunga High School in Northland has the country's highest stand-down rate.
Stand-downs are fixed suspensions for up to five days.
Almost one-third of the 329 students at Tikipunga were stood down last year and the community could not be happier, said principal Bernie Taffs.
The school roll had stopped falling, and even rose 26 per cent last year, the first increase in two decades.
"[Stand-downs] give a bit of a jolt and get the whanau involved," said Mr Taffs. "But it's helping to turn a hell of a lot of kids around."
Tamaki Intermediate principal Tony Horan resorted to instant stand-downs to end the violence he found after arriving at the Glen Innes school last May.
Mr Horan refused to tolerate the fighting he saw daily and was not surprised that his approach caused the school to be ranked third nationally with 76 stand-downs from a roll of 274, a rate of 28 per cent.
Students should not fear going to school, he said. A big drop in disciplinary actions this year showed the policy was succeeding.
By ALAN PERROTT
One in eight students at a Bay of Plenty high school was suspended last year - a figure the school blames on drug addictions among pupils as young as 13.
The suspension rate at Opotiki College was the highest in the country for the second year in a
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