JEFFERSON TWP — After the expulsion of three students in the South Butler School District, one parent is concerned the district is not punishing the students equally.

The school board in July expelled three students after an incident that happened June 10, the last day of the school year.

A backpack with drug paraphernalia was left in a parking lot at the school. After school police found the owner of the bag, three students were found to have violated the drug and alcohol policy involving marijuana use, according to Superintendent David Zupsic. None of the students have been identified because the case involves confidential educational record.

The use of marijuana took place off school property, and the paraphernalia was then brought onto school property.

But according to Shannon Adomaitis, the mother of one of the expelled students, the district did not punish all of the students involved equally.

She spoke with school officials about this issue after the school board meeting Wednesday night.

Adomaitis said there were nine students involved, four of whom ran after being found out. According to Adomaitis, school officials did not follow through on punishing those students, despite knowing who those students were.

Zupsic said any lack of action on the administration’s part was due to the limited time to investigate the situation. The last day of school was a half-day, he said.

“This was a half day of school, and the administrators can only gather information based on their investigation (that day),” he said.

But Adomaitis said the students who ran should have at least been questioned by administrators.

In addition, one student, referred to as Student B by the administration and Adomaitis, admitted to all of the same behavior that her son and the two other expelled students did. However, the school board decided not to expel Student B, Zupsic said.

Adomaitis said, “Student B participated in the same activities as Students A, C and D (the students expelled). Three students got expelled, but one did not. Why was a different course of action taken for Student B?”

According to Zupsic, the board made the decision not to expel Student B based on the facts presented at a private hearing.

“The board, they hear these cases and make a decision based on the facts,” Zupsic said. “They make recommendations to help the students work through any issues.”

Adomaitis claimed the district did not follow the school’s procedure for handling instances of alcohol and drug use in school, but Zupsic declined to comment on the matter.

According to the student handbook on the district’s Website, any student suspected of being under the influence must be taken to the school nurse, which Adomaitis said did not happen.

After that, the school resource officer did not test the students for drug use, she said, questioning why no drug tests were done.

“The school resource officer said he didn’t need to do a test based on the students’ eye movements, and he’d been doing this for a long time,” Adomaitis recalled.

She also alleged that one of the four students who ran was the one who sold the marijuana to the other students, a fact that the administration knew, she said. The district did not take disciplinary action against that student, according to her.

Adomaitis said that one administrator told her that had the incident happened not on the last day of school, the students would have been suspended for three days instead of expelled. Zupsic declined to comment if that was true or why that would be the case.

Adomaitis said the school board is inconsistent and is not being held accountable.

“What (the students) did was wrong,” she said. “No parent is arguing that, but there are students who’ve done worse that haven’t been expelled. The rules did not apply to every student the same ... what the board did isn’t fair.”

The district doesn’t have any appeals process where the board’s decision can be challenged.

The students can apply for readmittance to the district after the first semester of the coming school year if they meet certain guidelines set by the board about attendance and academic performance at whatever other school they might attend.

Of the nine students allegedly involved, four did not have disciplinary action taken against them, according to Adomaitis.

Of the five students who are facing disciplinary action, three were expelled, one was not expelled, and Zupsic said the board is expected to vote on action about the final student at the next board meeting, which is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Knoch Middle School library, 754 Dinnerbell Road.