Beyond Sports: DHS Expands Drug, Alcohol, Tobacco Policy

Source from:  By Susan Shultz, Times Reporter Apr 24, 2008 04/25/2008

Darien High School's signed athletic commitment to avoid drugs, alcohol and tobacco will be expanded next fall to be year-round for all extra-curricular activities. The previous policy only applied to athletics, and was only in effect during the athlete's playing season. Under the new policy, suspensions will apply to practices in addition to games. The policy was discussed at Tuesday's Board of Education meeting. While the board does not vote on the administration's policy, members were able to provide input at the meeting. According to the new draft policy, all school extra-curricular activities other than athletics will have three stages of offenses for drugs and alcohol. The first offense will result in a 14-day suspension from the activity. The second will result in a 28-day suspension. The third offense will result in a suspension from the activity for the duration of the school year. For athletics, the first offense will result in a 14-day suspension. If the second offense occurs in the same season, the student is suspended from the activity for the rest of the season. If the second offense occurs in a different season, the athlete is suspended for 28-days. For the first offense, the student would have to meet with a high school drug and alcohol counselor before returning to the activity. For the second offense, the student would have to meet weekly with the counselor for during the 28-day suspension. For offenses involving tobacco, the student would be suspended from all club or team activities for seven calendar days. The commitment will require signatures by students and their parents. As part of the new draft policy, the administration will not accept anonymous tips or Web sites containing "incriminating" photographs. Previous athletic suspensions have resulted from submissions of photos from social Web sites like Facebook. This new policy was originally discussed by the Board of Education in August 2007. According to Schools Superintendent Donald Fiftal, the Board of Education is supportive of the policy, which he said makes it applicable to all students, not just athletes. He also said that right now, the job of the administration is to get the policy out to all students and parents. "Communication will be key. Students, parents, coaches and administrators will have the chance to work on this," he said. Because the policy encompasses different activities spanning different seasons, Fiftal said the document will be ever-evolving. One of the most-discussed aspects of the new policy was the decision to not take anonymous tips. The board members had opinions on both sides of the issue. Some felt that accepting anonymous tips were important. Others, like Chairman John Boulton, felt that going through Web site photos to figure out when or where they were taken was going too far beyond the scope of the policy's purpose. Fiftal said that while the board did not have to vote on the policy, it was important to have its input and "blessing" going forward. "This is a very high profile set of regulations," he said. Boulton said that expanding the policy to include all extra-curricular activities was an issue of fairness. "Over the years, we've gotten a lot of push-back from families of athletes that it was unfair that they were singled out and the other extra-curricular actives were not. We felt it was fairer to include all activities," he said. Boulton said that the policy is "certainly tough." "We think it is an important policy and we do support it as a board," he said. The policy is still in draft, but the administration hopes to finalize it in time for the beginning of next year's school activities. Fall sports begin in late August. Enditem