Expelled students have few options to receive schooling

BELLEVILLE -- For the two Belleville West High School students who were expelled from school after attacking another student during a bus ride, options for schooling are limited.

"In the state of Illinois, there aren't many," Belleville School District 201 Superintendent Greg Moats said of the education alternatives available to students after expulsion.

District 201's school board voted unanimously Monday to expel the two students involved in the Sept. 14 attack, which drew national attention after police released a video of the incident to local media.

Police originally said the attack appeared to be racially motivated but recanted that statement the following day and said it was a case of bullying.

Both suspects have been charged with aggravated battery.

According to the state's school code, expulsion makes a student ineligible to attend any Illinois public school, with the exception of a laboratory school, a type of public alternative school created and operated by a public university and approved by the state board, said Mary Fergus of the Illinois State Board of Education.

There is no such school in St. Clair County, where the only option for "disruptive" students is the Regional Safe School Program, the other type of alternative education program the state provides for students in grades six through 12.

Students' eligibility to attend Safe Schools depends on a referral from their school district, which the two Belleville West students did not receive from the District 201 school board.

Moats said the school board chose not to refer the two students to attend the county's Regional Safe School Program, located in the Alternative Education Center at 1722 W. Main St. in Belleville, because of the severity of their disruptive behavior.

"A lot of times you might offer a Safe School placement but the board thought this was so egregious that they didn't recommend it," Moats said.

The NAACP East St. Louis chapter is reviewing the expulsions, saying the move could do more harm than good, the Rev. Johnny Scott said.

"I'm not trying to uphold any wrongdoing. You've got to be punished," said Scott, who is president of the NAACP chapter. "But we've got to look at the circumstances. Who are we punishing? We're punishing the future generation. ... We don't need to take away their education."

School code acknowledges the controversy that often accompanies a district's decision to expel students.

"Administrative transfers may prove more productive for dealing with disruptive students than out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, which have been the subject of much criticism," the code states.

The NAACP's lawyers will be reviewing the case to offer the school board alternatives, Scott said.

Scott said his attorneys will also be looking at the two students' records before the bus incident, and the district's record with enforcing its discipline policy. He said the organization plans to present the district with a plan for the students that would be an alternative to expulsion in hopes the district administration would change its mind about the board's decision.

Moats said he could not comment on whether the board would change its decision, citing student privacy.