Fort Smith (Mar 14/05) - A Fort Smith parent is angry her son still faces what she says is unwarranted punishment for a marijuana-smoking incident involving a school volleyball team and its assistant coach and chaperon.

Lucy Villebrun says her son didn't smoke the marijuana and is a victim.

Villebrun says none of the players on P.W. Kaeser (PWK) high school's under-20 senior boys volleyball team - including her son Brandon Thompson - should have been punished for being invited to share a "team joint" by an assistant coach and chaperone at a Hay River tournament last October.

"The issue is not who did or didn't smoke up," Villebrun says. "The issue is the school was responsible to provide a safe environment for these people travelling and representing PWK high school but they neglected to do so. And the wrong parties were unfairly punished."

Thompson, 18, adamantly denies any wrongdoing and refuses to write a letter describing what he learned from the incident, which was one of the consequences ordered by the school principal.

"He is wanting me to admit I did drugs," Thompson says, adding he won't admit to something he didn't do.

Because he won't comply with the principal's order, he won't be allowed to represent the school at out-of-town sports events.

Instead of writing the letter, the Grade 11 student says he wants a letter of apology from the principal before he agrees to represent PWK again.

Team joint

According to Thompson's account of the Hay River incident, the assistant coach and chaperone missed curfew as the rest of the team slept in a classroom at Diamond Jenness Secondary School.

They came back just before 3 a.m., smelling of alcohol but not drunk, he says, adding they then woke up the nine players.

Thompson says one of the adults suggested going outside for a "team joint" and the half-awake players went outdoors in their underwear and T-shirts.

"I was shocked," Thompson says. "Have you ever heard of a coach taking you out for a team joint?"

Thompson says he is not sure who had the marijuana, nor who actually smoked it.

Curtis Brown, superintendent of the South Slave Divisional Education Council, confirms the incident involved marijuana.

"We took the incident very seriously," he says, noting the PWK principal became aware of it a week later.

RCMP were contacted, but there was not much they could do without physical evidence, Brown says.

Following a meeting with parents, four consequences were decided on for the students: the team was not allowed to participate in a pep rally for the next tournament; players were assigned community service; extra curfew restrictions were imposed for Yellowknife's Spike It tournament; and each player was to write a letter.

Villebrun says she and her son never agreed with or planned to accept the consequences.

Thompson also participated in several sports tournaments up to the end of January.

However, a Feb. 17 letter from principal Al Karasiuk informed Villebrun a letter on the Hay River incident had not been received from her son.

"Until such time as this consequence is fulfilled, Brandon will not be allowed to represent PWK during out-of-town sporting events," the principal's letter states.

So far, Thompson has missed three basketball and soccer tournaments.

Brown says all other students have completed the consequences.

"I'm quite satisfied with how the incident was dealt with by the school and the parents and students," he says, noting the principal consulted him on the process.

Brown explained that the regular coach was not available for the Hay River tournament so an assistant coach and a chaperone - two volunteers from the community - went with the team.

A review of procedures is now underway.

As for Nick MacPherson and Jamie Van Camp - the assistant coach and chaperone involved in the incident - Brown says they are banned from further involvement with the school.

"But they chose to step down themselves," he noted.

The two wrote a letter to parents and teachers apologizing for the Hay River incident.

"When we look back on the events in Hay River, we realize that we made the wrong choices, we are ashamed and we understand that what happens next is a direct result of our indiscretion," reads the letter signed by MacPherson and Van Camp.

When contacted, MacPherson declined to comment. Van Camp could not be reached.

Brown rejects Villebrun's contention the school covered up the incident.

"There was no cover-up whatsoever," he says.

"I'm not sure where that comes from."

Villebrun has taken the matter to the media and the territorial government, discussing it with several MLAs and education minister Charles Dent.

"I have no reason to question the way this was handled," Dent says of the school's actions.

Villebrun resigned from the Fort Smith District Education Authority in January, partly as a result of the way this incident was handled.

Another incident

Meanwhile, police are investigating another possible drug-related incident involving a PWK student at a soccer tournament in Fort Simpson in early March.

Not many details are available but Brown says, as he understands it, a student was removed from a bus arriving in Fort Simpson and searched by police acting on a tip the student was carrying drugs.

Brown says police found nothing to substantiate the allegation.

However, Cpl. Al Shepherd of the RCMP's Fort Simpson detachment gave a firm "no comment" on the incident, other than to say an investigation is ongoing.