The Westbrook School Committee is considering lessening the severity of the school code of conduct, following the suspension of at least 10 Westbrook High School students from athletics.
Parents and school administrators alike are now questioning the severity of the punishment for violating the code a second time, which carries a suspension of one year from sports and activities. The school board and school department are planning to investigate the issue further in the coming weeks and vote on a change next month.
The investigation will include the school board and administrators talking with students, parents and teachers to better understand how effective the policy is and how it might be more effective if changed.
According to the school, 22 students from a variety of sports and activities are currently serving suspensions for violating the code of conduct involving alcohol. Four are serving suspensions of a year from activities. The suspensions did not stem from a single event, the school said, and this is the first time any students have been suspended for a year.
As written, the code of conduct mandates a two-week suspension from activities for the first offense. The athlete may practice with the team after the first week, but must miss at least one contest and must forfeit any leadership roles on the team and any awards he or she might receive during the season. The athlete is also required to get an evaluation with a substance abuse counselor to determine whether the student wants or needs help.
For a second offense, the student is automatically suspended from activities for a calendar year. School administrators and board members will be focusing on the jump in severity of punishment from the first to second offense in the coming weeks. The school board is considering going to a three-tier punishment system.
According to Superintendent Stan Sawyer, Westbrook’s code of conduct is stricter than those of other communities. “I think Westbrook’s standard is a much higher standard,” he said. “And I’m not saying that’s bad.”
At a special school committee meeting Wednesday morning, Westbrook parent Steve Rand agreed with Sawyer that Westbrook’s policy is stricter than other area schools. Worried about his own kids, who play sports at the high school, he said he looked into other schools’ policies after learning recently of the severity of Westbrook’s.
“My gut reaction was, this is so severe,” said Rand. “Both my sons play sports, and I’m concerned about that second-tier piece.”
Rand was particularly troubled by a clause in the policy that states students cannot be willingly present at a function where other students are violating the policy by using alcohol or drugs. If so, those students present but not drinking are in violation of the code themselves.
Mike Cook, guardian of one of the students suspended for a year, said at the meeting he understands the need for punishing students, but he thinks the jump from two weeks to a year is too heavy-handed. He said he has punished the student by taking away his driving privileges for a year and grounding him on the weekends. However, Cook said, he’s a good kid who usually stays in on the weekends anyway and just made a couple of lapses in judgment.
Todd Sampson, Westbrook High athletic director, said the four students serving one-year suspensions are very different cases, who did very different things to receive their suspensions, although the punishments are the same.
Some suggestions that came out of Wednesday’s meeting were to have the second offense carry a season-long suspension with additional punishments such as community service and increased drug and alcohol counseling. A third offense would come with a more severe punishment, such as the year-long suspension already in place.
The school board will be meeting several times in the coming weeks before making any change to the policy. It will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 18 and at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 26 at the superintendent’s office next to the high school.
The full committee will meet at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 and again on Oct. 11 in room 114 of the high school. The board is expected to vote on a possible change at the Oct. 11 meeting. All meetings will be open to the public, and concerned residents are encouraged to attend.
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