Appleby College wins right to defend pot-smoking student's expulsion Private school to contest ruling that quashed expulsion of pot-smoking student by Tony Van Alphen Toronto Star 11 | Thursday, March 14, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com The fight over a school's decision to expel a student who smoked marijuana on campus during the last night of his graduation year is moving to the Ontario Court of Appeal. A panel of three judges granted a motion on Friday to Appleby College of Oakville for leave to appeal a divisional court ruling that quashed the expulsion of student Gautam Setia. The appeal court did not provide reasons. Appleby, a private international boarding school, had effectively expelled Setia in June 2010 for allegedly lighting up a bong with marijuana and then smoking it in a friend's dormitory room as they celebrated the end of Grade 12. His family sought a judicial review to get the prestigious Appleby diploma and cancel the expulsion. In a majority decision last November, a divisional court didn't order Appleby to give the diploma but said the school should reconsider it; the court also quashed the expulsion. The 102-year-old school, which has 725 students, filed a notice for leave to appeal on the grounds that the lower court erred by al- lowing a private school's disciplinary decision to be subject to judicial review. Appleby argued the question of whether decisions concerning administration and discipline by private Gautam Setia schools are subject to judicial review is a matter of public interest and importance which will affect the development of jurisprudence. The legislature formed the private school in 1911 under a special act rather than under the Ontario Corporations Act. In their decision, the divisional court ruled that because of the special act, Appleby's decisions are an act of statutory power and are subject to judicial review. Setia, then 18, had attended the school since Grade 7 and posted good grades with no record of misconduct until the incident. Appleby did not give Setia's parents a formal hearing regarding the punishment to their son, who admitted to smoking but not lighting the bong. Under Appleby's rules, lighting a bong on school property would mean mandatory expulsion but the divisional court said there was no evidence he did that. Smoking marijuana gave the school's head a range of options, according to the court. In addition to expelling him, Appleby barred Setia from graduation ceremonies and his name did not appear in the list of graduates in the school's quarterly magazine. He still received his Ontario secondaryschool diploma. ...so you are ready for Spring and Summer BBQs, Parties and Weddings! $ $ 10 OFF One Batch of Wine or Beer Made By You 25 OFF Two Batches of Wine or Beer Made By You Some conditions apply, see store for details. Offer ends March 24, 2013 905-825-BEER 481 North Service Road W. (2337) Some conditions apply, see store for details. Offer ends March 24, 2013 905-825-BEER 481 North Service Road W. (2337) North Service Rd. EIN STEIN 3rd Line 4th Line 481 NORTH SERVICE ROAD W. (between 4th Line and Dorval) 905-825-2337 HOURS: TUESDAY-THURSDAY 12-8, FRIDAY 12-5, SATURDAY 9-5, SUNDAY 11-3, CLOSED MONDAY Q.E.W. Dorval 481