When Bromfield students returned from vacation Monday, Principal Jim O’Shea addressed them in a schoolwide assembly about the problem of drugs and alcohol on campus. His actions were triggered by events on Friday, April 12, when school officials found several students in possession of marijuana. Police were called to the school, but no criminal charges resulted, because the amounts of marijuana were less than an ounce. Two unopened bottles of hard liquor were also discovered later in a school room.
In a subsequent interview, O’Shea said that anyone under the influence of alcohol or drugs at school is in violation of the policies set forth in the school handbook and will face disciplinary action. He said he has a range of possible penalties, up to and including suspension or expulsion.
Decisions are private
“All disciplinary decisions are private,” O’Shea said. In a later email, he clarified, “Disciplinary action has definitely been taken. Anytime students are found in possession or under the influence, there are serious disciplinary consequences.”
At a Bromfield School Council meeting later Monday afternoon, council members asked O’Shea to explain the difference between suspension and expulsion. He explained that suspension places a student “outside the school community” for a set period of time, meaning that the student cannot attend classes, take part in any extra-curricular activities, or be present on school grounds. The student may or may not be permitted to make up missed work or tests; if not permitted to do so, the student would receive zeros for those assignments.
In contrast, an expelled student is banned from the school either for a year or permanently. Under current law, Harvard would no longer be responsible for educating that student, nor would any other school in the state be required to admit him/her. As a serious legal step, expulsion requires a hearing and due process, O’Shea said.
Support for drug-sniffing dogs
Asked by a School Council member what preventive measures the school administration might take in the future, O’Shea said that a school where he had worked previously had participated in the state police program that brought in drug-sniffing dogs, a possibility he had also mentioned to students at the morning assembly.
“It’s a deterrent,” he said. “It keeps the school clean. We can’t do mass behavior changes [on drug usage], but we can say, ‘Not at this address.'”
Several School Council members noted that parents at the recent Youth Risk survey meeting had seemed unconvinced about the extent of drug and alcohol use among Bromfield students. Others noted that some students at the Monday assembly had responded with skepticism to the idea that dogs might be brought into Bromfield. As a result, several School Council members expressed support for joining the state police program. As one said, “Bring in the dogs…It would prove that you are serious.”
Principal O’Shea said he was also looking for leadership from the senior class at Bromfield, as well as class officers, Student Council members, and members of the National Honor Society. All students in leadership positions, he said, have a responsibility in protecting the school community.
O’Shea told council members that the event has spawned many rumors in the community. Some stories greatly exaggerated the number of students who had been searched, and others described many students “ditching” drugs in fear of detection. In fact, O’Shea said, six to eight students had been searched, not the 40 to 60 reported by rumor.
Speaking to the Press, O’Shea also flatly denied a rumor among parents that he had released the name of a student who initially reported the presence of drugs at the school on April 12.
“It does not make any sense that I would do that, and I didn’t,” he said. He noted that threats or retribution against any student would no more be tolerated than drug abuse itself.
