By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Before their children left for Germany in March, the parents of 19 Mariemont High School students gave permission for them to drink beer with their foreign hosts so they could "experience the Bavarian culture."

Some students enjoyed the experience a little too much.

Seventeen of the students, when they returned home, were suspended for drinking in violation of school rules, setting off a battle between parents and school officials that will head to federal court next week.

The parents say school officials left it to them to decide whether their children should be allowed to drink while in Germany and that any punishment for abusing the privilege should also be left to the parents.

The school board later reduced the suspensions to after-school detentions and community service work, but some parents remain angry about the discipline and worry about a black mark on their children's academic records.

The parents of two students sued school officials this week in U.S. District Court, seeking a judge's order to prohibit the school from acting against the students.

"The school is trampling the parents' rights and the children's rights," said Richard Ward, the stepfather of one of the students and the lawyer who filed the lawsuit. "The parents gave permission for the children to do what they did."

And when a few of the students drank excessively, Ward said, it became the parents' responsibility to discipline them - not the school's.

All of the students are minors, most of them high school juniors and seniors.

The high school principal, James Renner, declined comment Friday. Mariemont's superintendent, Gerald Harris, and the school board president, Peggy Landes, did not return phone calls.

The lawsuit says the teacher in charge of the foreign-exchange program told parents that the drinking issue was a "personal, family decision."

The parents were told the students would visit beer gardens while in Germany and would have the opportunity to legally drink beer there if the parents consented, the lawsuit states.

Ward said all of the parents gave permission.

"Each child and the child's parents specifically discussed the issue and, with a variety of admonishments, gave permission for the child to drink with the Germans," the lawsuit states.

Two students either drank only a little or not at all, and they were not disciplined when they returned home.

But according to the lawsuit and to school records attached to the suit, at least a few students drank excessively.

The suit states that one of the chaperone teachers became alarmed and tried to discourage the drinking, telling the students they were in "big trouble." The nature of the trouble became clear when the students arrived home and were greeted at the airport by school officials.

"Pandemonium ensued," the lawsuit states. "The meeting resembled a mob scene and turned into a bit of a shouting match."

Ward said the parents were upset because school officials had left the decision about drinking to them, then changed the rules later.

"I don't think there was a very clear policy," he said. "The policy that was enunciated was one that clearly put the ball in the parents' court."

Judge Susan Dlott is scheduled to meet with lawyers on both sides of the dispute Monday. She will be asked to determine whether the discipline imposed by the school violates the students' due-process rights under the U.S. Constitution.

As the legal battle continues, the families who sent children to Germany are preparing to welcome German students into their homes as part of the exchange program.

Ward said the German students are expected to arrive in a few weeks.

E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com.