Alcohol policy tightened, STD letter discussed at July safety meeting

July 17 safety meeting blow-by-blow

The court hearing to upgrade the school police officers as previously reported is scheduled for Aug. 5, according to board solicitor Mike Weinstein.

Faculty and staff will be instructed to keep their classroom doors locked at all times, in case of an armed intruder, based on safety recommendations. 

Distribution, possession, or under the influence of alcohol cases while in school, at school functions, or in between home and school will now be referred to the superintendent to be brought in front of the board for an expulsion hearing. Currently, students with alcohol are given 10 days of out-of-school suspension and referred to the police. The federally-mandated zero tolerance policy for all drugs is written in the student handbook. 

The issue was raised after students were found drunk at the semi-formal dance. Board president Bob Goldsack said this will make the punishment for alcohol consistent with the punishment for other drugs. There were nine students caught under the influence or possessing alcohol this past school year in the high school and one or two in the other school levels, according to superintendent Dr. Candis Finan. 

Expulsion can be any punishment from one additional day of out-of-school suspension to a permanent ban from Delaware Valley. The extent of the punishment is determined in a due process hearing. Students caught with alcohol or any drug at school receive a fine of up to $420 and a 90-day license suspension, according to school police officer Mark Moglia. 

The board did not vote on any changes to policy wording but may do so in the future.

District nurses chairperson Ellen Orben spoke about the STI letter. According to Orben, Maternal and Family Health Services, aka "Family Planning," contacted her a few months ago with a concern about increased pregnancies and STDs at Delaware Valley. They were interested in doing a presentation for the students. Orben spoke to 11/12 principal Joe Casmus and to Finan, who agreed since the school year was coming to a busy end the district should send a letter home to parents, Orben said. 

Orben asked MFHS for some data to include in the letter, and they called back shortly after school ended with the numbers printed in the letter, 25 to 30 pregnancies and 300 cases of STDs, Orben said. Once the media got hold of the letter, the Department of Health stepped in saying there was no way those numbers could be accurate or publicly revealed, and the CEO of MFHS called Orben to tell her there must have been a misunderstanding.

The school district is interested in setting up a meeting with MFHS to straighten the matter out, but Orben said she is glad the letter went out whether or not the numbers are exactly accurate. 

She said all of the school nurses will do a short presentation at the open houses in September to talk to parents about this issue, and a speaker from the northeast region of the Department of Health will be on hand at the Sept. 17 DV High School PTSA meeting for a slideshow and discussion. 

The board and administration will be going through the sex ed curriculum and fine tuning it for this year, but Finan said as a public school they need to be wary of not crossing the line in pushing values upon students and they will offer parents a way to opt out of curriculum they feel uncomfortable with their children learning.

There were only two or three members of the public present for the safety committee meeting, which is surprising after all the uproar from the STD letter. I hoped more people would have attended the meeting if they truly wanted to be informed from the source.