School Board Holds Expulsion Hearings

FARMINGTON -- Farmington School Board held student expulsion hearings almost every month last year and started the 2022-23 school year with another round of closed student disciplinary hearings.

The board held five separate hearings last week at the administration building, before heading over to the high school for the regular Sept. 19 monthly meeting.

The hearings were for high school and junior high students.

According to Kim Williamson with the administration office, one student was expelled for the remainder of the year and two students were expelled for the rest of the semester.

The other two students were suspended for 10 days and given the opportunity to participate in the Second Chance program.

The board was scheduled to hold an expulsion hearing for a sixth student but this hearing was delayed for another date.

Last year, the board held separate hearings for 13 junior high students and nine high school students. In most of the cases, students were accused of using electronic cigarettes loaded with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical in marijuana that gives the users a high.

Jon Laffoon, superintendent of schools, last week said none of the hearings on Sept. 19 involved students using electronic cigarettes with THC. He declined to comment further on the hearings to protect the privacy of the students.

The board in August approved student handbook updates, including new procedures to address issues at the junior high with students using electronic cigarettes or vapes with THC. These changes gave staff more options to be proactive to help students who may have problems with vaping.