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Drug arrests underscore rough first week of school.
It doesn't take much to earn a trip to the principal's office. Lobbing spitballs at the chalkboard, passing notes in class and ditching algebra to hack on your first cigarette behind the gym will usually get the job done. But taking the Long Walk is all but guaranteed when you've been charged with, say, cocaine possession.
On Aug. 22, a 17-year-old male student at Capital High School was escorted to Principal Darlene Ulibarri's office after security guards suspected he and another were smoking cigarettes behind the school. A subsequent search of the 17-year-old unveiled two plastic bags containing 1.4 grams of a powdery substance the student acknowledged was cocaine, according to SFPD Deputy Chief Eric Johnson.
The following afternoon, CHS security guards caught two 16-year-old male students next to the tennis courts trying to smoke a pipe filled with marijuana. Both students were charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. One of the students also had a four-inch folding knife in his pocket and was charged with bringing a deadly weapon onto school property.
Johnson says both cases have been referred to the city's Juvenile Probation Office, which will mete out any punishment beyond what the school will impose. Ulibarri confirmed both incidents but declined to comment further, citing the investigation was still pending.
"The school's position is that we're following the Code of Conduct," Ulibarri says. "The Code of Conduct requires us to go to Gloria Lopez-the district hearing officer-before we decide on a punishment."
Lopez says such cases aren't entirely uncommon, estimating she presides over some 300 hearings every school year, most involving drug offenses, fighting and insubordination. Most result in short suspensions, counseling and-in drug cases-the requirement that students sign a "no-use" contract pledging to avoid further drug use, at least on school property.
According to the Santa Fe Public Schools Code of Conduct-a manual detailing the parameters and punitive actions regarding student misconduct-students found to be using or possessing alcohol or illegal substances are to serve a minimum out-of-school suspension of three days. But Lopez says the CHS student caught with cocaine will likely face a stiffer penalty. She says students suspected of trafficking drugs are typically referred to the superintendent's office and face the possibility of long-term suspension or expulsion.
"We take this very seriously," Lopez says. "We don't want any drugs in the district, but we particularly don't want students to have easy access to drugs from another student."
The two drug-related incidents at CHS were not an anomaly for local schools during the first full week of classes either. On Aug. 24, a 14-year-old student at F Vigil Middle School in Española was apprehended after stabbing another 14-year-old in what police identified as a gang-related incident. The student will likely face aggravated battery charges.
Earlier that same day, a 17-year-old female student at Santa Fe High School reported that a male grabbed her from behind, covered her eyes and groped her in an outside courtyard between classes. The suspect was described as having a thin build and was wearing a dark blue T-shirt, faded blue jeans and white shoes. But SFHS Principal Claudia Krause-Johnson declined to say if any suspects had been detained, saying the incident is still under investigation.
"We're not even 100 percent sure yet what exactly happened," Krause-Johnson says. "Nobody else apparently saw or heard anything so it's a little premature at this point to speculate on what actions we will take."
