Swampscott to enforce drug, alcohol policy

SWAMPSCOTT – The School Committee will begin enforcing new drug and alcohol regulations on March 17, despite receiving a petition with more than 200 signatures protesting the controversial measure.”The policy has been enacted, it can’t be re-voted, it will be enforced,” said School Committee member Glenn Paster at the committee’s meeting Wednesday night.The committee did unanimously accept, however, “semantic changes” to clarify the intent of the policy. Many of these clarifications addressed criticism of the policy as overreaching and possibly violating individual rights.”A lot of the changes in terms of the wording are there because of concerns about how well the language of the original policy matched the intent of (the policy),” said High School Principal Layne Millington, who suggested the changes in consultation with administrators, students and community members. “The purpose of the policy is not punitive as much as it is educational. The original wording makes it sound like (violators) are going through a rehab session in school. That was never the intent.”The most important change specifies that “illegal use” (rather than “the use or purchase/selling of drugs, alcohol, or tobacco,” as in the original), constitutes a violation of the policy. Administrators also added language that they will not “troll social networking sites” looking for infractions.But the consequences remain the same. Students who violate the policy cannot participate in school-sponsored extracurricular activities for a year or until completing in-school counseling. The policy still applies 365 days a year, on or off school property.”I’m pleased that (Millington) was receptive enough to make the changes he made,” said parent Sara Christie, who said she would continue to collect signatures for the petition. “But it still applies 365 days a year and I feel that issue restricts the rights of parents to do parenting. If parents feel infringed upon, the policy will fail.”Last week, The American Civil Liberties Union also weighed in on the controversy. In a March 4 letter, the organization asks the School Committee to delay implementing the policy in light of several concerns and reevaluate the policy. The concerns largely mirror those of petitioners. The letter notes that the process of formulating and explaining the policy caused “disillusionment with the administration.”School Committee Chair Jacqueline Kinney said in response to the letter, “We’re taking it under advisement and, at this time, we have no comment.”Many in the community, however, have applauded the schools for addressing the problem of teen substance abuse.And, in contrast with earlier meetings on the policy that were attended by more than 100 parents, this meeting attracted fewer than 20 audience members.”It sets an unequivocal standard,” explained Millington. “It says, we don’t just not expect you to use drugs and alcohol during the school year, but not to use during the rest of the year too. I can’t think of any other statement a school should be saying to young adults.”