Posted on Thu, Dec. 09, 2004

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - A 16-year-old boy is returning to Shippensburg Area High School after being suspended when he sought help for a drug abuse problem, his lawyer said.

Chris Sheffield, the lawyer who represented the boy during an expulsion hearing, said his client sought help from the school district's Student Assistance Team on Nov. 2, and 10 days later, he was suspended after administrators learned he had sold drugs on school property. Sheffield said the sales were of small quantities of marijuana, and that the boy had stopped selling by the time he sought help.

"Now, the message to students is, 'Don't get help because you are going to get punished,'" Sheffield said.

The school board voted 7-1 to readmit the boy on the conditions that he stays in counseling and submits to random drug testing.