Pubdate: Mon, 11 Mar 2013
Source: Mississauga News (CN ON)
Copyright: The Mississauga News 2013
Contact:  http://www.mississauga.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/268
Page; Front Page

APPLEBY COLLEGE DETERMINED TO EXPEL POT-SMOKING STUDENT

OAKVILLE - The fight over a private school's decision to expel a 
student who smoked marijuana on campus on the last night of his 
graduation year is moving to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

On Friday, a panel of three judges granted Appleby College's bid for 
the right to appeal a divisional court ruling that quashed the 
expulsion of student Gautam Setia. The appeal court did not provide reasons.

Appleby, a private international boarding school, had effectively 
expelled Setia in June 2010 for allegedly lighting up a bong with 
marijuana and then smoking it in a friend's dormitory room as they 
celebrated the end of Grade 12.

His family sought a judicial review to get the prestigious Appleby 
diploma and cancel the expulsion. In a majority decision last 
November, a divisional court didn't order Appleby to give the diploma 
but said the school should reconsider it.

The court also quashed the expulsion.

The 102-year-old school, which has 725 students, filed a notice for 
leave to appeal on the grounds that the lower court erred by allowing 
a private school's disciplinary decision to be subject to judicial review.

Appleby argued the question of whether decisions concerning 
administration and discipline by private schools are subject to 
judicial review is a matter of public interest and importance that 
will affect the development of jurisprudence.

The legislature formed the private school in 1911 under a special act 
rather than under the Ontario Corporations Act.

In their decision, the divisional court ruled that because of the 
special act, Appleby's decisions are an act of statutory power and 
are subject to judicial review.

Setia, then 18, had attended the school since Grade 7 and posted good 
grades with no record of misconduct until the incident.

Appleby did not give Setia's parents a formal hearing regarding the 
punishment to their son, who admitted to smoking but not lighting the bong.

Under Appleby's rules, lighting a bong on school property would mean 
mandatory expulsion but the divisional court said there was no 
evidence he did that. Smoking marijuana gave the school's head a 
range of options, according to the court.

In addition to expelling him, Appleby barred Setia from graduation 
ceremonies and his name did not appear in the list of graduates in 
the school's quarterly magazine. He still received his Ontario 
secondary school diploma.

- - Torstar Network
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom