GREENFIELD — Citing federal privacy law and students’ privacy rights, the Greenfield School Committee defended the school department’s decision to limit the information made available about a shelter-in-place order and arrest at Greenfield High School Monday during its meeting Wednesday night.
The incident occurred around 1:50 p.m. A letter posted to the school’s website by Principal Donna Woodcock said it was handled mostly internally through numerous attempts at verbal de-escalation until the intervention of a school resource police officer was needed.
“There’s a reason why things can be said and why things can’t be said and why there’s a response from the School Committee members, from the administration, or from the police,” School Committee Chairman Timothy Farrell said, citing the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, which governs public access to educational records including grades, course schedules and disciplinary actions. He said that law limits what can be disclosed, and that the school department wasn’t intentionally trying to hide anything related to Monday’s events.
“When there’s an incident that occurs in the school, the School Committee can only make limited comments to the media and public,” Farrell said. “This is when the distinction between a need to know is different from the desire to know, and it’s a big distinction … The privacy of students is important and that needs to be at the forefront.”
Typically, FERPA allows for the release of records after “all personally identifiable information” has been redacted, according to legal advisory letters from the federal Department of Education.
On Wednesday afternoon, a public records request filed with the Greenfield Police Department for the police report related to the incident but with identifying information about the student or students involved to be redacted was denied, with Chief Robert Haigh Jr. citing Massachusetts General Laws governing youthful offender or delinquency cases.
Haigh said more information may be made available after the case has been resolved in juvenile court.
Committee member Susan Hollins, who is also the district’s former superintendent, commended the district’s efforts to handle the incident.
“We were all teenagers once, we know that sometimes students get in a state where they can’t calm themselves down,” Hollins said.
Committee member Francia Wisnewski questioned what opportunities the incident presents for implemenation of the high school’s new restorative justice program.
“Let’s talk about it in a respectful way, with respect for the laws and that student,” she said. “Is the system working?”
Woodcock on Thursday took issue with the Recorder’s use of the term “lockdown” in a headline about the incident, saying that the terms “shelter-in-place” and “lockdown” are not interchangable at GHS. During a shelter-in-place order, instruction continues, she said. During lockdowns, instruction is suspended and all students and staff are instructed to hide, she said.
The school superintendent in Tuesday emails about the event used both terms interchangeably.
Shelter-in-place orders are used for a variety of situations, including medical emergencies to maintain student or staff privacy, Woodcock said. “It’s to keep students out of the hallways.”
Lockdowns, on the other hand, are called when an external or internal threat to the school may be imminent, she said. The nature of the incident Monday is still unclear, but one student was arrested, according to Greenfield Police.
The federal Department of Homeland Security defines the emergency protocols as “sheltering from severe weather such as tornadoes, “shelter-in-place” from an exterior airborne hazard such as a chemical release a lockdown. Lockdown is “protective action when faced with an act of violence.”
You can reach Tom Relihan at:
trelihan@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 264
On Twitter, @RecorderTom