Dedham Selectmen Halt School's Conduct Agreement with Cops

Dedham selectmen delayed a vote on a Memorandum of Understanding between the police and school departments that calls for, among other things, police to notify school officials of incidents involving students over the summer.

A current policy holds students accountable for actions only between September and June.

The School Committee on March 21 in a 4-3 vote. It cleared the policy sub-committee with a 3-0 vote before that, but since has met pushback from parents.

On Thursday, selectmen joined the contingent to decry parts of the agreement.

School Committee member Mayanne Briggs, who also serves on the policy sub-committee, said a driving force for switching to a 52-week enforcement is the growing trend of cyberbullying.

In December 2010, Dedham became one of the first towns to  that included langauge prohibiting bullying on the Internet, as mandated by a state law.

"It's clearly spelled out, what are the offenses and what are the consequences," Doe said. 

Doe added that not many other high schools in Massachusetts have a 52-week enforcement.

The current Memorandum of Understanding, implemented in 2004, punishes students for being in the presence of alcohol or drugs with up to two weeks suspension from extracurricular activities.

The proposed agreement would provide an educational lesson to students caught, on a first offense, in the presence of alochol or drugs - and not suspend them from activities.

That, along with the 52-week enforcement, are the two major changes between the current 2004 document and the proposed policy. It would also include students at , whereas the current agreement only applies to high school students.

But, selectmen Carmen Dello Iacono and Paul Reynolds both signaled that they believed the school policy overreached and attempted to wrest control away from parents.

"What message are we sending our kids?" said Reynolds, who said they need to be careful not to mix the "two buckets" of parenting and education.

Doe could not provide selectmen with the number of times this year that school officials have had to use the MOU policy to punish a student. She told them that it was less than 100, but more than once.

Board of Selectmen chair Jim MacDonald moved to create a sub-committee made up of Dello Iacono, Reynolds, two members from the school committee and at least Police Chief Michael d'Entremont.

"The policy right now needs to be fixed," MacDonald said.

The sub-committee will take public input and present it in a public hearing before the two boards take it up for a vote, MacDonald promised.

The group's goal is to iron out a compromise between now and mid-June when school ends.

"It's a complex issue. It is worth taking a second look," Reynolds said.