Addressing some rumors to the contrary, Falls Church School Superintendent Dr. Lois Berlin told the News-Press Monday that the terms outlined in Student Code of Conduct will be applied to the letter in the case of numerous George Mason High School students, including some athletes on varsity sports teams, who were arrested and convicted of underage drinking at a private home in Falls Church last month. The students were mostly remanded to community service by the court.
While the Student Code stipulates a three-to-10 days suspension for such an offense in any context related to school activity, and prohibition “from attendance at and participation in all extracurricular activities…for a period of time defined as a minimum of 30 consecutive school days” and all the weekends that fall within that time frame. However, the code grants the principal the discretion “based on the facts of each case, to determine whether the period of non-participation in extracurricular activities should be longer than 30 school days, and whether to permit attendance at and participation n co-curricular activities.
