The Swampscott School Committee voted unanimously to revise the district’s chemical health policy, eliminating a section that allowed the schools to discipline students for substance-related incidents that occurred off-campus and outside school activities.
The shift marks a significant change to a policy that for years extended school enforcement into nights, weekends and family life. The chemical health rules were originally designed to promote student well-being and deter substance use, but the policy also contained a broad clause that tied school consequences to “documented violations” of state alcohol or drug laws, even when those incidents had no connection to school or school-sponsored events. That section referenced police reports, court documents, and even Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) records as acceptable documentation.
Superintendent Jason Calichman said that the former language had created a situation where students faced stricter penalties for a mistake made on a Saturday night than they would for similar conduct in the building.
“We were talking about the non-school-related events and how constructive possession is written right now,” he said. “It was essentially more of a punishment for a student doing something off-campus on the weekend than if they were in school.”
Calichman said the update reflects a larger philosophical shift: the district wants families to feel they can seek help when their child is struggling, without fear that coming forward will trigger additional school-based punishment.
“On the weekends, outside of school, we want to support parents and support families if we know kids have made a mistake,” he said. “We don’t want to make it a punitive response when it doesn’t have to be.”
Before bringing the change to the committee, Calichman consulted district counsel and reviewed the policy against statewide athletic rules. The district confirmed that removing the off-campus clause would still keep Swampscott aligned with the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA).
“We wanted to be sure we were still in alignment with outside organizations like the MIAA,” he said. “Our law offices said yes, we are, so that highlighted pieces of ‘non-school-related events’ can be struck.”
The new language removes the entire off-campus enforcement section from both the student handbook and district policy manuals.
Calichman, however, emphasized that the change does not alter the district’s commitment to student safety, only its approach to supporting families.
“We’re not looking to get kids in trouble when we don’t need to,” he said. “We always want to be supportive of families and kids, not make it harder for them.”
