"To set the correct example for our students, we will comply rather than complain"
That's how a crap load of them ended up in Iraq, duck-fart!
"Lawrence bans bottle use in schools; Policy targets alcohol abuse" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | March 21, 2009
Lawrence's superintendent of schools, in response to revelations of students drinking in class last week, has banned bottled water, coffee, and soda in the city's schools.
The ban will affect both students and school staff, which angered the teachers' union.
"Naturally it caused a lot of people to be upset," Francis J. McLaughlin Jr., chairman of the teachers' union, said yesterday. "We are adults, and I like that cup of coffee in the morning."
With a shot of brandy, right?
The ban, announced in a letter from Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy and sent home with students citywide yesterday, comes one week after several students at Lawrence High School were caught drinking in class.
One 16-year-old female student had to be hospitalized shortly after noon on March 13 because she was boisterous, falling down, and vomiting, according to witnesses' accounts in a police report. She told police she had been drinking alcohol from an apple juice bottle with friends in the class and that her friends tried to hide her drinking by telling teachers she was pregnant and apparently had morning sickness.
School officials investigating the event found another student carrying a half-gallon bottle of Bacardi rum in her backpack later the same day, the report said. It was three-quarters full.
Local police learned about both incidents three days later from a teacher at the high school. Police Chief John J. Romero criticized principal Terika Smith's response yesterday, saying she should have reported both instances to the school's on-site police officer or city police immediately.
Not that I'm trying to minimize the problem; however, I guess the Boston's finest don't have any better things to do than stand outside liquor stores or....
"Earlier this month, police wrapped up a 30-day sting involving plainclothes officers mimicking tourists and other pedestrians. Once they were panhandled, they essentially became victims guaranteed to show up for a trial"
The lapse has hindered police from charging the students with underage drinking, he said.
"What's really disturbing to us is that underage drinking is a crime," Romero said. "After they call the ambulance, the very first thing they should do is call the police."
Neither Smith nor Laboy, the superintendent, responded to requests for interviews yesterday. Mark Rivera, a spokesman for the district, confirmed the letter, but did not elaborate. According to a copy of the policy obtained by the Globe, food and beverages are now banned from classrooms because of "pest control issues" and the "potential for illegal substances to be brought into the school in bottled packages or thermos containers."
Gonna start searching backpacks next?
The bottled beverage ban includes all drinks purchased from outside vendors, including water, soda, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and juices. They "will no longer be allowed in the school, during school hours or school-sponsored events, unless served in the cafeteria, brought in as part of a parent-provided lunch and eaten in the cafeteria, or served at an appropriate event," it said.
"If there is a need to provide a beverage to students in a classroom due to heat conditions or during testing sessions, then the beverage must be water and it must be provided in a paper cup."
Why would the kids want to drink at school? Bored?
There is no similar ban in Boston public schools, according to district spokeswoman Melissa Duggan. Principals usually institute their own policies, she said. McLaughlin said Lawrence teachers are concerned that the ban was enacted without input from parents and teachers. But no union action is planned, he said.
Yeah, no need to inform parents or anything, sig heil!
"To set the correct example for our students, we will comply rather than complain," he said.
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