By:Scott Brinton
The second meeting of the Central High School District's newly formed Committee on Promoting Character, Civility and Social Responsibility convened Jan. 13. The session was the first time committee members got the chance to express their thoughts and concerns. As expected, the dialogue quickly turned intense, even spirited, but it reportedly remained civil.
And committee members noted that they came away from the meeting feeling hopeful that within six months they'll reach a consensus on the host of critical policy recommendations they are charged with developing. The committee must offer those recommendations to the Board of Education at its June meeting.
Sanford Sardo, Calhoun High School's choral director and a member of the 90-member committee, said the group's work is "all about the students and their safety."
The Central District formed the committee last fall in the wake of the Mepham High School football sex-abuse attacks. Arnold Goldstein, the district's assistant superintendent for instruction and the committee's chairman, noted that the group would not examine the Mepham case. Rather, it is charged with developing general policies to ensure students' well-being.
On Jan. 13, committee members broke into 30-member subcommittees. One subgroup deals with hazing; the second, character education; and the third, trip policies.
Goldstein, who heads the character-education subcommittee, said he is having his group read Hank Nuwer's renowned book, "High School Hazing: When Rites Turn Wrong." The book doesn't offer suggestions for stamping out hazing, but it provides a history of hazing in American schools beginning a century ago. The book is intended to give readers a sense of how deeply ingrained hazing is in American high-school culture.
Saul Lerner, the Central District's athletic director, who heads the trip-policy subcommittee, is having his group examine 20 trip policy statements from surrounding school districts. On Jan. 13, Lerner handed out a set of the statements to each of his group members, and as "homework," he asked them to read them closely and return to the subcommittee's February meeting with suggestions for retooling the Central District's policy.
The district's trip policy has been a source of contention since last September. At the time of the Mepham football camp, the district offered only one chaperoning guideline for teachers on trips: They could not sleep in the same room with students. Otherwise, teachers were left to decide how they watched over students while away.
Many said the five Mepham coaches who oversaw the football camp didn't do enough to ensure players' well-being, but the coaches contend they did all in their power to make sure students were safe.
Sardo declined to comment on the Mepham case. He noted, however, that there are always risks on any school trip -- for chaperones and students.
So often, Sardo said, there are scenarios beyond the chaperones' control. For example, he said, students might stay overnight at a hotel under teachers' supervision. They might go swimming in the pool, and despite the presence of a lifeguard, get hurt and perhaps even drown. The teacher might then be held liable.
"There is a risk" for teachers, Sardo said. "There are risks because there are students who are teenagers. Sometimes they don't think things through. There are so many things that are out of the adviser's hands."
Despite the risks, Sardo plans to take 66 members of his elite choir to an upcoming national competition in Virginia Beach, Va. -- a trip that was canceled last year because of terrorist threats at the outbreak of the war in Iraq.
Sardo, who has taught at Calhoun for 11 years, said the school's music department brings one chaperone for every 15 students on any trip. Sardo then adds one or two chaperones, and he makes sure one is medically trained, such as the school nurse. He was never required to take such precautionary measures, but he has done so for his own sense of comfort.
(At the Mepham football camp, there was one coach/chaperone for every 12 students, and all of the coaches were trained in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.)
Sardo doesn't want to see field trips eliminated, noting that "the only other option is keep the students in little glass boxes." He hopes that by April, when the Virginia Beach trip is scheduled, his subcommittee will have developed guidelines that he can use during the multi-day competition.
"We will leave, and hopefully we will get back in one piece. And the chaperones and I will do everything to make sure that'll happen," said Sardo.
Irene Halpin, the Central District's assistant superintendent for personnel, is heading the subcommittee on hazing, which is charged with developing a statement about hazing. Halpin has already put together a draft policy, which was distributed at the Jan. 13 meeting. Members of the hazing subcommittee must now review it and offer suggestions for change.
Halpin based the statement in part on other districts' policies. But Goldstein noted that district officials had some trouble finding definitive statements. "There aren't too many districts that have specific policies," he said.
Previously, the Central District had simply defined hazing as any act that "endangered" the safety, health and welfare of others. Beyond that, little else was put in writing.
Cheryl Pastuch, of Merrick, an active member of the Calhoun Sports Boosters and a committee member, said, "We all know what the right thing is -- that you shouldn't haze. The question that we [on the committee] came back to is, how do we prevent it?"
Character education is key, Pastuch said. She noted that the Central District has long had a character-education curriculum. Now, she said, the community -- including administrators, teachers, students and parents -- "need to focus again" on teaching civic responsibility.
And Pastuch already sees signs that's happening at Calhoun. With a new principal and assistant principal, she said, "There is a new culture there. There is a whole new freshness."
