Appellant, Angela McGee, is a resident of the Waterloo Community School District, and her daughter, Alicia McGee, age 13, is an eighth grade student at Hoover Middle School. The following facts are not disputed by the Appellant. The Board's decision to expel Alicia was the result of an incident at Hoover Middle School on October 23, 1998. During Alicia's language arts/reading class, a chemical, later determined to be pepper spray, was released in the classroom. This caused the school building to be evacuated, the fire department to be called, and the student body to be sent home early. Another student in the language arts/reading class, Brittany D., admitted to school authorities that she had brought the pepper spray to class in her purse. Alicia stated that another student had discharged the spray but a number of students stated that they saw Alicia take it from Brittany D.'s purse and a number of students stated that they saw Alicia spray it in the classroom.
As a result of this incident, Alicia was suspended for three days and recommended for expulsion for violation of the Dis-trict's student conduct code by discharging a chemical weapon and for causing a serious disruption of the school. Testifying for the District, principal Gail Moon said that she also recommended that Brittany D. be expelled for possession of a chemical device.The Board met on November 11, 1998, to consider the expul-sion recommendations. The Board voted to expel Alicia for the remainder of the first semester of the 1998-99 school year. It voted to place Brittany D. on probation, which entailed exclusion from extracurricular activities for the remainder of the first semester of the 1998-99 school year and immediate referral for expulsion if she committed any further violation of the student conduct code.
Appellant in this appeal does not dispute the accuracy of the facts of the incident at Hoover Middle School, either as they were presented to the Board or as they were presented in this ap-peal hearing. Neither does she find fault with the policies and procedures followed by the District in disciplining her daughter. Rather, her claim is that the Board's decision was unfair because her daughter was expelled and the other student received a lesser punishment despite the principal's recommendation that both be expelled.
The State Board of Education has been directed by the Legislature to render appeal decisions which are "just and equitable," [Iowa Code section 29.3(1997)];"in the best interest of the affected child," [Iowa Code section 282.18(18)(1997)], and "in the best interest of education" [281 Iowa Administrative Code 6.11(2)]. The test is reasonableness. The State Board's Standard of Review, based upon this mandate, is as follows: [A] local school board's decision will not be overturned unless it is "unreasonable and contrary to the best interest of education." In re Jesse Bachman, 13 D.o.E. App. Dec. 363 (1996).In applying the Standard of Review to this appeal, the question becomes whether the Board's decision to expel Alicia McGee for the remainder of one semester was a reasonable exercise of its authority. The minutes of the November 11, 1998, Board meeting show that the Board devoted almost two hours in closed session to this matter. It heard information on the incident at Hoover Middle School, heard testimony, heard the administrators' recommenda-tions and deliberated. We believe that this was sufficient for the Board to make an informed decision.
The Waterloo Board of Directors properly used its discretion in this case. We encourage other boards of directors to do like-wise. The Appellant has failed to show that the Board's decision was unreasonable. There is no other basis on which to reverse it.
That the decision of the Board of Directors of the Waterloo Community School District made on November 11, 1998, to expel Alicia McGee for the remainder of the first semester was affirmed.