While I’ve known people who had connections not to get expelled for alcohol use, every person caught smoking pot has been expelled. And my school is pretty lenient in that they won’t press charges.
Oh, and expulsion here means you are kicked out of that district for a period no less than 5 years. You have to get accepted in another district if you are under 16. Most people move, but some just go to the nearest school district.
Over 16, and you don’t technically have to go to school, but a lot of them do anyways, or at least get their GED. If they had wanted to drop out, they would have already.
Oh, and we do have an A-school (alternative school), but moving there is usually not classed as an expulsion. It’s more for people who have failed too many classes. Since you really can’t be held back, they get moved there where they get one on one attention and can move at their own pace.
Back when I went to school, if you got into a lot of fights you would probably end up in detention. These days, if you are a chronic problem, it’s not unheard of for a couple of police officers to come into your classroom and take you away in cuffs. And that’s just for fighting. If they find drugs on you at the time, hoo-boy.
If he’s been given a 3 day suspension previously for fighting and then they find drugs on him? I’d expect him to get his ass carted straight off to jail.
Schools today have a zero tolerance policy, which (IMHO) often also tends to lead to a zero common sense policy. Expect the school administrators to completely overreact to the whole thing.
Also, if he goes to a private school that wants to look good, he will still be expelled for his first time offense (if he has drugs on possession on him, or is caught with drugs on hand in school or at a school associated event ie: Prom or such with drugs), however, the private school would ask him to “leave/withdraw of his own free will” in order to preserve their own reputation. He will get a nice letter in the mail which basically states You are no longer invited at our school, and if you wish for it not to go on your record as an expulsion, you will leave. If you show up to school, you will be expelled. This is done by the private school to often save face of the school, and also in case if the kid is someone rich/famous’ kid, he won’t have the black mark against him when he applies to college (as others have mentioned above).
It’s a flawed system, but that’s how it is sometimes. Private schools have just as much problems as public ones, they’re just more discreet about it.