The Consolidated School District (CSD) School Committee received updates and further discussion on a few topics Feb. 14 including a potential Boothbay Region High School boys’ lacrosse team. Members also heard from BRHS teachers Mark Gorey and Skip L'Heureux on cyberbullying.

CSD administrators recently launched an investigation into the second of two incidents on social media in which a student suggested a member of the faculty was a pedophile. No disciplinary action was taken, the teachers explained, because it would infringe upon the students’ First Amendment rights, as in Tinker v. Des Moines.

Said Gorey, “We're just here tonight to pitch the idea of including administrators, staff and faculty, wherever it's appropriate, next to students – that the district will also have the professionals also in mind in terms of some protections … We don't believe it's a coherent argument to say that there's nothing we can do about this to protect professionals.”

L'Heureux went on to explain that part of the ruling in the Tinker case said the suppression of speech can be justified when school officials can prove the student's conduct would interfere with the operation of the school. This was also another method in which the CSD justified not disciplining the student, said L'Heureux – they could not prove the social post disrupts the school's operations.

“… This has nothing to do with symbolic or political speech as ruled upon in the Tinker case. If a student were to be attacked in the same manner upon which the faculty member was recently attacked, the administration of the CSD would consider it bullying … Furthermore, (the posting’s) dissemination among our high school population, as well as at the elementary school, without a doubt has made it a troubling presence among our student populations.”

The teachers said that through the Boothbay Region Education Association (BREA), they reached out to the Maine Education Association and their UniServ director. The suggestion was to reach out to the CSD to perform a policy change or addition for staff protections.

Chair Larry Colcord and Superintendent Keith Laser said talks with the CSD's lawyer yielded explicit instructions not to alter current policies because it would most definitely open the CSD up to a lawsuit if enforced. However, they discussed possibly launching a committee to find a solution.

“If we do have a committee just to look at the policies, it's a dialogue. That's all that we can do is a dialogue because we are not going to change anything that's going to open us up to lawsuits.”

Gorey said there is not a good example of language protecting staff in any Maine districts, because policy language is largely “boiler-plate” and written by the same law firm.

“… The language from Drummond and Woodsum … is engineered to protect the school district from lawsuits, not the professional staff working in the buildings. The notion that this is an issue of freedom of speech, that's the primary argument, that this opens the school districts up to a lawsuit? (Tinker) was a 5-4 decision, a closely contested decision … This has gone on a couple times within two years and there has been no consequence of any significance in either instance. This is unacceptable for our professional staff …"

Boys’ lacrosse?

Welch and Athletic Director Allan Crocker said they determined after talking with schools with lacrosse teams, it would not be best practice to have students buying their own equipment.

“We would need to purchase certified, safe equipment for the students and have them reconditioned every year,” said Welch.

Crocker said the program would likely cost about $10,000 every year, though Scott Hardwick, a local youth coach trying to lobby the CSD to approve the program, said there are fundraising and grant opportunities through US Lacrosse, among other programs.

The main concern among committee members was how the introduction of lacrosse could potentially take numbers from other spring sports like baseball and track. Student Nicholas Morley argued that if athletes are playing their second favored sport and have a chance at playing their first choice, why not?

“There are like six or seven kids on the baseball team that only signed up for baseball to keep the program,” said Morley. “But they said if there wasn't baseball, they would play lacrosse.”

With 16 kids already having expressed interest to Hardwick, the committee tasked Welch and Crocker to put out a spring sport signup sheet to confirm a team would be plausible. In the meantime, they suggested Hardwick and lacrosse parents begin whatever fundraising efforts they can within the gray area of “maybe.”

Asked who the team would play, Welch and Crocker said Morse High School, Lincoln Academy and North Yarmouth Academy would be the closest. However, Hardwick said he found interest from coaches at a clinic a few weeks ago which would see the Seahawks face off against Oak Hill, Brunswick and Camden.

“There are a lot of teams in the area that hope we can throw one in there, too,” Hardwick said.

15 minutes

The committee discussed a proposal for the CSD to consider a 15-minute later start time for BRHS and Boothbay Region Elementary School. The later start would impact sports at the end of the day, Laser said, but not in a big way, and Welch said later starts in the past have yielded far fewer tardies – around 26 percent.

“Up and down the coast, we're the earliest there is,” said BRES Principal Mark Tess. “Southport, Great Salt Bay, Woolwich – they all start later than we do … Some of them a half an hour to 45 minutes to one hour (later) … and the latest (dismissal) is 3:30 p.m."

Welch said it could affect students traveling to Bath for their vocational classes, but finding a good time in the schedule has always been a struggle. Committee member Peggy Splaine said it would also be nice to at least see bus pickup times after 7 a.m. because some students are being picked up as early as 6:40 a.m.

The committee chose to check possible discrepancies with students traveling from Edgecomb, but gave a consensus in favor with the later starting time.

The committee meets next at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27 in the BRHS library. The CSD School Committee and Board of Trustees will hold a “Future of our Schools” meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb 28.