Just two days following a presentation to parents last week on the comparative extent of drug and alcohol abuse at Bromfield, five students were found in possession of marijuana and face either suspension or expulsion.
According to the Bromfield principal, the Harvard police, and students, the incident began when a student reportedly overheard a conversation between two students in a locker room that suggested the presence of drugs on campus. The student reported the conversation to Principal Jim O’Shea. Questioning of the two accused students by O’Shea on Friday implicated six to eight classmates, who were called from classrooms, interrogated by O’Shea, and had their backpacks searched. Of those students, half were found in possession of the prohibited substance, bringing the total number of students in possession of marijuana to five.
In an interview with the press, Police Chief Ed Demark said he was called to the school shortly before 3 p.m. last Friday to determine whether one of the students was in possession of more than one ounce of marijuana, which would have resulted in a criminal charge and an arrest (see Police Log). But according to Denmark, the amount was within the limit set by law when Massachusetts decriminalized the possession of marijuana last year. Per school and police policy, Denmark said, he had confiscated the amounts collected by O’Shea and taken them to be destroyed.
Among students, word of the incident spread quickly through hallway rumors and on social media. Posts by students on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram ranged from relief to anger, some threatening to make the life of the student who had gone to the authorities “a living hell.” Others shared posts approving the school’s rapid enforcement of its policies.
As of Wednesday, O’Shea had yet to announce final disciplinary action for the five students, who could be suspended for one to four days or expelled. “We have zero tolerance for alcohol and drugs on campus,” he said, but the school provides due process for any student accused of violating school policies. The final decision is his, O’Shea told the Press, but students have an opportunity to appear in his office with parents and other witnesses to offer evidence contrary to his findings.
O’Shea noted that he has the authority to search student lockers and backpacks when there is reason to do so, but that school policy prohibits searches at the request of the police. He praised the collaborative relationship between Bromfield and the Harvard police, who are called to the school only when there is suspicion of criminal activity.
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Chief Denmark praised the students who had alerted the administration. “Kudos to…the Bromfield students who heard the drugs were on campus and didn’t want them there,” he said. The statistics shared at the Youth Risk Survey in Cronin Auditorium last week showed that the problems of drug and alcohol abuse are “no greater and no less” than at other towns, Denmark said (see article on Bromfield’s Youth Risk Survey).
Because Harvard Schools are so strong academically, Denmark added, residents sometimes have the impression that “we’re better.” But like everywhere else, he said, “Kids will make bad decisions.” In this case, he said, the “consequences are going to be swift and severe.”
Principal O’Shea told the Press that he was “very concerned” that students were making the kinds of “poor decisions” on display last week. “It’s a pretty unusual event for Bromfield,” he said, but nevertheless “very concerning.” He noted that while a recent tenth grade dance had been held without incident, there had been incidents of alcohol abuse by students at two earlier dances this winter.
A Bromfield school assembly is scheduled for Monday when students return from vacation, O’Shea said. He will also be meeting with the crisis group, whose formation he described at last Wednesday’s “Youth at Risk” presentation.
As if to punctuate O’Shea’s concerns, Denmark told the Press that as he was leaving Bromfield on Friday, a teacher appeared in the principal’s office holding a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a bottle of Absolut Vodka in another. With spring vacation just hours away, a student had found them on campus that morning.
