Expelled

The mother of a Chesapeake High School student expelled for having pepper spray met yesterday with schools Superintendent Anthony G. Marchione -- but came away with nothing changed in her daughter's status.JoAnn Osborne said after the meeting that Marchione would not reinstate her daughter, Jodie Ulrich, 17, an honor student and three-sport athlete scheduled to return to classes in September. Jodie, a junior, was expelled in March for carrying a pepper spray canister, a device she has for self-defense.

- Months after being expelled by Xavier, Maryland basketball player Dez Wells said Tuesday that he finally feels a sense of relief because he has arrived in a place that feels like "home. " "I had faith I would be in the best situation possible at the end of the road. And I feel like I'm in the best situation," Wells said in his first interview with local media since transferring to Maryland this summer. "I feel a lot of relief. It's home away from home. " The 6-foot-5 Wells, who can play guard or small forward, was dismissed by Xavier following his freshman season after a sexual-assault allegation that a prosecutor said was unproven.

LONDON -- An expelled Iraqi diplomat warned yesterday that Western countries would become targets for sabotage attacks by Arabs if war broke out in the Persian Gulf."

A year after the U.S. Naval Academy expelled seven midshipmen for using synthetic marijuana on the zero-tolerance Annapolis campus, the "spice" investigation is over, and college officials say the drug problem is past. Sixteen midshipmen were expelled from the academy for use or possession of synthetic marijuana between December 2010 and August 2011, when the formal investigation ended. Only one midshipman has been investigated for spice since, said Cmdr. William Marks, academy spokesman.

A fourth Long Reach High School student has been expelled in connection with a violent campus attack in October that left a 12th-grader with a fractured jaw, a school official said yesterday.The expelled student, whose name was not released because of his age, is a 14-year-old ninth-grader who was initially suspended Nov. 5, said Patti Caplan, a Howard County school spokeswoman. He was expelled 12 days later and charged with second-degree assault, she said.Although as many as seven boys were accused of beating and kicking Kenny Magan, 17, in a school hallway, it seems unlikely that more students will be punished in the incident, Caplan said.

Two midshipmen who were punished rather than expelled for their part in the U.S. Naval Academy's largest cheating scandal may be thrown out of school after getting arrested on drunken-driving charges, academy officials said.Officials told the academy's advisory Board of Visitors yesterday in Washington that the two men left their dorm last month after a bed check, went into Annapolis to drink with friends and were arrested by state police on Interstate 97 after swerving over lane markers.

Anne Arundel County public schools expel students at a rate higher than any other metropolitan Baltimore school district, but administrators say the numbers show the county is tough, not that students are out of control.Anne Arundel schools expelled 3.9 students per thousand during the school year that ended in June, followed by Baltimore with 3.7 expulsions per thousand students, according to state and local school officials.Baltimore County expelled 1.9 students per thousand; Carroll and Harford counties expelled no students.

A 13-year-old boy, expelled from Aberdeen Middle School in October for allegedly holding a paring knife to the face of another student, lost his bid to get his expulsion overturned.The student, who is returning to regular classes this fall, wanted his record cleared and Harford County to pay for any tutors he might need to help him make up the lost work, among other things.The Maryland State Board of Education dismissed on Tuesday a motion to hear the case because it found that the Harford school board had followed the correct procedure in expelling the youngster.

WASHINGTON -- Retaliating against Russia for this week's sensational spy case, the Clinton administration yesterday expelled a man they described as the top intelligence officer in the Russian Embassy here.Aleksander Iosifovich Lysenko, officially listed as a "counselor" in the Russian Embassy, was given seven days to leave the country as a payback for the arrest Monday, on suspicion of espionage, of a CIA official, Aldrich Ames, and his wife, Maria del Rosario Casas Ames.Administration officials said they had demanded that Moscow recall one or more of its diplomats.

Birk Billingsley knew the price of his free Naval Academy education. It required adherence to all the dos and don'ts. Still, last fall, the 22-year-old senior engaged in a don't. He got caught and had to head home to Texas. He would have graduated in six weeks. Instead, he owes the Navy $93,000 for his education. "I made a big mistake," he says. After 22 coed years, the academy still struggles to regulate the urges of college-age men and women. Despite the rules -- no sex with a freshman, no sex on campus -- midshipmen regularly fall in love, have sex and sometimes get caught.

The state school board's plan to substantially reduce the number of school suspensions and expulsions is based on faulty logic ("State wants to curb suspensions," Jan. 26). The board says expulsions should be eliminated except in cases of firearm violations. This absurd policy would force teachers, counselors and other students to endure out-of-control minors with little to no ability to rectify the situation. Suspension should be used to remove minors who refuse to follow the rules.

"Students aren't allowed to pray any more!" "You can't even talk about God in public schools these days!" "They've even banned Christmas!" Such refrains, which resound regularly each year, are gross misconceptions perpetuated by alarmists who question America's First Amendment guarantees regarding religion's and prayer's place in public schools. The approach of major religious holidays is a wonderful opportunity to clarify what is religiously allowable within our public schools.

An eighth midshipman was expelled from the Naval Academy last week as a result of an investigation into the use of the banned substance known as spice, the superintendent's office announced Monday. Also on Monday, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration filed a final notice that will outlaw the sale of the five chemicals used in herbal blends to make synthetic marijuana, including spice. The chemicals will be banned for sale for at least a year. A Naval Academy spokeswoman said the investigation into use of spice at the service academy is continuing.

CITY'S LARGEST A-RAB STABLE CLOSED: : Nineteen horses used to haul produce wagons in the city, left, are confiscated by the Health Department after an inspection found conditions of "severe disrepair" at their stables. The move leaves only a few horses to carry on a colorful city tradition. PG 2 BALTIMORE SCHOOL BOARD OKS EXPULSIONS: : A controversial policy that allows students to be permanently expelled for setting fires or other violent acts that threaten the safety of staff and other students wins approval on a 5-2 vote.

Baltimore's school board voted 5-2 Tuesday night to adopt a policy that allows students to be permanently expelled for setting fires or other violent acts that threaten the safety of staff and students. The vote came after months of public comment and haggling over the details of the policy. In the end, the board and schools CEO Andr?s Alonso compromised. Alonso retained his authority to permanently expel students, but under more narrow circumstances and with a greater weight given to the student's home life and experiences, and right to due process.

Some kids will do almost anything to get out of fourth period algebra class or a tough history exam. But planting a bomb in the building or setting the place on fire crosses a line separating stupid teenage pranks from serious criminal behavior that puts hundreds of lives at risk. There's no excuse for it, and it can't be tolerated. That's why Baltimore City Schools chief Andres Alonso is right to draw the line at students who commit arson or detonate explosives on school grounds, even if it has led to a spike in permanent expulsions, including one elementary school student.

Howard County school officials plan to expel at least three students suspended for brutally beating a senior at Columbia's Long Reach High School.The expulsions were not officially confirmed as of late yesterday because it was unclear if the students' parents had been contacted, school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan said."

Three students at Columbia's Long Reach High School suspected of assaulting another student were expelled before they could return to classes this morning -- and a fourth student may join them on the expulsion list.The three were suspended for 10 days, the maximum punishment available to principals, after the Oct. 21 attack that left Kenny Magan, 17, with a broken jaw. A fourth was suspended last week.The first three suspensions ended Friday, but the expulsion process to keep the students out of school was completed last week, according to school spokeswoman Patti Caplan.

One hundred students on long-term suspension or expulsion will attend a new alternative school located within the city school system's North Avenue headquarters when classes resume Aug. 25, under a move approved last night. The school board's vote to allow the school to operate within the administration building was practical and symbolic. On the practical side, the system is eliminating 310 central office jobs this summer, leaving space in the building. But there is also no shortage of symbolism in placing some of the city's most vulnerable students alongside the administrators acting on their behalf.