A Highland secondary school has excluded pupils 14 times in connection with drugs in just 12 months.
The action was taken at Culloden Academy in 2014/15 – and it accounted for two thirds of all school exclusions for substance misuse in the region that year.
The school’s 14 drug-related exclusions was also higher than the 12 recorded for the whole of Dundee.
It emerged in new data obtained by the Press and Journal which shows that pupils were temporarily removed from Highland schools on 80 occasions because of drugs in the last five years.
Almost two thirds of secondaries in the region excluded youngsters for substance misuse in the period.
The growing problem was highlighted last month when police and head teachers at the six secondary schools in Inverness and Nairn took the unusual step of writing to all parents to warn of a “notable” increase in reports of drug use and availability.
They said that drugs such as cannabis, MDMA, heroin, crack cocaine and so-called legal highs were now “readily available” for “anyone” who wants them, including “a greater proportion of young people and at earlier ages”.
Tain Royal Academy sent out a similar letter this month and has arranged a special parents meeting to discuss the “concerns”.
Data released by Highland Council under freedom of information legislation has now revealed the number of exclusions under the category of “substance misuse – not alcohol”.
It shows that Inverness Royal Academy excluded pupils in four out of the last five years in connection with such substance misuse.
Charleston Academy, Culloden, Tain and Grantown Grammar all recorded drug-related exclusions in three out of the last five years.
Millburn Academy in Inverness, the region’s biggest school with 1,102 pupils, took the action in two out of the last five years, as did Kingussie High School.
In one of the last five years, there were exclusions for drugs at secondaries in Alness, Fortrose, Glen Urquhart, Golspie, Invergordon, Kinlochleven, Nairn, Plockton, Portree, Thurso and Wick.
In total there were 20 exclusions across the Highlands in 2015/16 for drugs, including six at Invergordon Academy, while there were 21 in 2014/15, including 14 at Culloden, and 17 in 2013/14, six of which were at Charleston.
It is understood some of the exclusions included the same children being punished on more than one occasion.
In 2012/13 there were between three and five exclusions, and in 2011/12 there were 19.
Asked about the figures for Culloden, parent council chairwoman Liz Green said: “I can’t comment on individual cases. It has been a very good school for my children, that’s all I know.”
Douglas Ross, Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: “It is deeply worrying when any pupil is excluded for drug use.
“Clearly the schools have taken a strong stance and hopefully that sends out a strong message to the pupils involved and any others that would consider reckless behaviour.”
Eleven out of the 29 secondaries in the Highlands did not exclude any pupils for drugs, including two of the region’s largest schools, the 1,052-pupil Dingwall Academy and the 830-pupil
Lochaber High School in Fort William.
The only secondary in the Highland capital not to take such action over substance misuse in the period was Inverness High School.
Bill Alexander, Highland Council’s director of care and learning, said: “The council works very closely with partners to educate children about the dangers of substance misuse and the importance of making the right choices.
“There are effective interventions to prevent and reduce substance misuse and we have very successful substance misuse services.
“The welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility and early intervention is extremely important.
“I would urge anyone who has any information or concerns about substance misuse to report this to the police or bring it to the attention of a teacher.”