The WW-P school board is expected to vote on Tuesday, June 24, on the implementation of a student contract for those who participate in extra and co-curricular activities on the high school level.##M:[more]##
The contract, officials say, will act as a deterrent for kids who might consider using drugs and alcohol or participating in other illegal activities, including on weekends, and help them be proactive in making good decisions. A similar contract has been in place for at least 10 years for students who participate on athletic teams, but the board is looking to expand that to cover all after-school activities.
The contract prohibits students from using tobacco products, alcoholic beverages and controlled substances prohibited by state law, including drugs, narcotics, and steroids. It also sets guidelines for attendance, transportation arrangements to and from the after-school activity, conduct at school events, and hazing. The contract sets up consequences for first, second, and third-time offenders.
During the board’s June 10 meeting, board member Stan Katz, however, said that while he thinks the contract is a good idea, he found some ambiguities in the language of the draft that concerned him.
Katz said he was concerned that “if certain things are prohibited and won’t be tolerated on weekends, the question becomes how does the school find out about these, and will there be a bias in the way things are reported?” Katz said, for example, that there are things that could happen in West Windsor that could be reported differently than things that might occur in nearby towns like Montgomery that might not get back to school officials “simply because we have an agreement with the West Windsor police, but we don’t have one with Montgomery police.”
“You could easily wind up having the same action having very, very different consequences on weekends because of the notion of how it gets to the school,” he said.
In response, High School South Principal Charles Rudnick acknowledged that there is no guarantee the school will find out about incidents on an equal basis, but said he could guarantee that he and other high school administrators will treat it as fairly as they can.
He also said that he has seen many instances in which students took pictures of themselves engaged in illegal activities and put them up on the web, and that he has treated every case equally. Thomas Smith, the assistant superintendent of pupil services and planning, said that there was actually a case in which “we received E-mail pictures from students on trips while they’re still away in other countries” that depicted them drinking alcohol.
The other concern of Katz was language that stated that “students, prior to being involved in the disciplinary process, may voluntarily seek confidential assistance for alcohol or drug problems without a penalty by contacting a guidance counselor, a substance abuse counselor, staff member, or administrator.”
“The notion that a quick-thinking kid or parent can avoid the penalties by simply saying, ‘Before this gets to the disciplinary process, I’m going to go talk to the guidance counselor, or substance abuse counselor immediately,’ and suddenly, there’s not a penalty,” Katz said. “The whole concept of using this as a deterrent falls by the wayside because it’s just too easy to get out of the penalty.”
He said he was also worried that parents might be savvy enough to think along the same lines if their children get into trouble. “For most parents, the cost of the program is nothing compared to what they perceive is the cost of having something on their kid’s record when they have to make college applications,” he said.
Katz said, for example, if a few students had pictures taken of them during a raucous party over the weekend and they knew those pictures has been posted on the web and that they might get into trouble, they might come to school on Monday and right away head to the counselor to avoid getting into trouble. But other kids who may have been at the party and did not have their pictures taken might be more inclined to try to get away with it and not head right to the counselor. “So, the disciplinary process starts for them (because they didn’t seek help),” Katz said. “But the other kids, knowing that they were going to be involved in this, go straight to the guidance counselor and get out of it.”
Rudnick said that it would be too late for students who had their pictures posted on the web by Monday morning because he would already have the evidence, and they would face consequences, he said. But “the other students — they’re the ones I hope will realize, ‘I need to go see the substance abuse counselor,’” Rudnick said.
“Is it fair? Absolutely not,” Rudnick said. “But is it fair that I’m doing 90 or 95 (miles per hour) and there’s 10 people going along with me, and a cop only catches two of us? It’s all about prevention. It’s all about making kids think before they do something. We’re not going to get them all; it’s ridiculous to believe we are.”
Rudnick said that the whole goal of having the contract was to encourage students to seek help. “If you figure a student who is involved in something illegal is savvy enough to seek the substance abuse counselor or the guidance counselor, that’s really what it’s all about,” he said. “We don’t want to penalize them. Ultimately, he may be able to get out of trouble, but really, that student’s getting help.”
“I can assure you we will apply it as fairly and consistently as possible,” Rudnick said.
Smith said he conducted focus groups of about 30 students at each high school to talk to them about the concepts in the contract.
