SWAMPSCOTT — The School Committee voted to update the chemical health policy for the student body at Swampscott Public Schools by removing the “Non-School Related Events” portion from the document during its latest meeting.
The purpose of the chemical health policy is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all students and to encourage responsible decision-making, with strict zero-tolerance regarding substance use.
As Superintendent Jason Calichman described the matter, “Essentially, the way it’s written right now, we’re making it more of a punishment for a student that was doing something off-campus on the weekend (and) makes a mistake versus if they were in the school.”
He said that if students make mistakes regarding substance consumption on the weekends or outside school events, SPS aims to support parents and families — without seeking to punish the student.
Calichman noted that he had been in discussion with lawyers to determine if this was a path SPS could take, while also still being in alignment with outside organizations like the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
The portion he requested the School Committee remove from the policy stated: “This School Policy shall also relate to any documented violations of consumption, use, physical possession, or constructive possession under M.G.L. c.138 and/or M.GL. c. 94C or any applicable section therein by any Swampscott District student for off-campus, non-Swampscott school sponsored events.
“Documentation of such violations shall include but are not limited to police reports, court records, or records associated with documentation of MGL Chapters 138 and/or 94C violations including records of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles as they apply to Chapters 138 and/or 94C.”
Calichman said, “That highlighted piece of ‘Non-school related events’ is something I’m asking if we can strike from the handbook and policies… We can always be supportive in what we’re trying to do — we want families to come to us if there’s a problem and not be worried about getting a punitive response — and with the way it was written, it was something that was hard to navigate.
“We’re not lawyers, but we’re also not looking to get kids in trouble when we don’t need to… This is one of those things that we can make sure our kids are doing the right thing, being supportive, but also not overstepping our bounds, in my opinion, that we’re dealing with something that families should be dealing with on the weekends.”
The motion to make the update passed unanimously by the School Committee.
