by Nick Mourtoupalas ’13

Parents, school officials and residents of the Walt Whitman High School community were disheartened to hear that even after countless alcohol-related tragedies from the past, students still put careless fun before safe judgments.

Reported by The Gazette on January 4, an alcoholic party held while parents were out resulted in Principal Alan Goodwin suspending about three dozen students from their extracurricular activities.

To learn more about the events of the party, Goodwin observed Facebook and Twitter buzz in the days following the incident, which occurred on December 10. Montgomery County police provided Goodwin with the names of the students recorded present at the party, yet no further information than that.

Since the possession of alcohol was both off school grounds and not during school hours, normal MCPS disciplinary policies did not apply. Therefore, Goodwin was given latitude to decide the students’ punishments based on the information he was able to acquire in the community.

Sherwood Principal William Gregory stated, “When [incidents] are off-campus, they are much more situational and I base my involvement on the impact it has on the school. I have no control over what happens on a weekend.”

Alcohol-related tragedies in the Whitman community include the deaths of both Whitman students Elizabeth Clark and Britton Chichester several years ago. According the article in The Gazette, Goodwin noted that he took Whitman’s history into account when making his decision.

Since the situation occurred completely out of school, there is no policy to cover a punishment for the students caught at the party. Therefore, the principal is given discretion to determine an appropriate punishment. Goodwin stated that even though the three dozen students involved were breaking the law completely outside of school, they still represent the Whitman community.

He also stated that some of the students felt bad for the incident and admitted to attending the party while others got away without punishment.