Appellants sought reversal of a decision of the Board of Directors of the Ackley-Geneva Community School District made on March 13, 2000, that declared their son to be ineligible under the District's good conduct policy for one-third of the competitive spring sports season. The undisputed testimony indicated that Ryan got into the front seat of a car being driven by a fellow student and accepted a ride without being aware that beer was concealed on the back seat under some coats. After the car had traveled a few blocks, a passenger in the back seat opened a can of beer. As soon as Ryan learned that the beer was in the car, he asked to leave. At that same moment, the car was pulled over by a police officer, who was investigating a report of a missing soccer ball.

Ryan was suspended under the "mere presence" language of the District's good conduct policy, which allowed suspension from extracurricular activities for being in the presence of alcohol in an illegal setting.

Appellants asserted two basic reasons why the Board's decision to suspend Ryan under its good conduct policy should be reversed: that the "mere presence" language was unreasonable in and of itself, and that the "mere presence" language was unreasonably applied to Ryan's specific situation. The hearing panel examined both of these reasons. The State Board has never been presented with the reasonableness of a "mere presence" policy under the language set out by the Iowa Supreme Court in Bunger. See In re Kristy Larson, 17 D.o.E. App. Dec. 106, 108, n.1 (1999).

The State Board is mandated to make decisions based on the laws of the State of Iowa. As the Iowa Supreme Court stated in Bunger: "We realize that the rule has been made broad in an effort to avoid problems of proving a connection between the student and the beer, but rules cannot be so extended as to sweep in the innocent in order to achieve invariable conviction of the guilty." The hearing panel concluded that the Ackley-Geneva District's "mere presence" language did just that: it unreasonably swept in Ryan Oelmann.

The Ackley-Geneva District's good conduct rule imposed ineligibility even though Ryan did not know that there was beer in the car and even though he tried to exit the vehicle as soon as he became aware that he was in the presence of beer in an illegal setting. The rule was unreasonable and contrary to the best interest of education. Since the hearing panel concluded that the rule itself was unreasonable and contrary to the best interest of education, the Board's application of it to Ryan's situation was also unreasonable and contrary to the best interest of education.

That the Ackley-Geneva Community School Board of Directors' decision made on March 13, 2000, declaring Ryan Oelmann ineligible to participate in extra-curricular activities for one-third of the competitive sports season, be reversed.