Performing Arts Department

The performing arts chemical health policy is a contentious one.

The Handbook is read and signed by students and parents every year. It states, “The performing arts department strongly supports the chemical health policy at Brookline High School to provide all students, including those in the performing arts, a clear set of expectations.”

This statement is contrary to the policy itself. The confusingly vague wording of the performing arts chemical health policy is in desperate need of a tune-up.

The major problem with this current policy is clarity.

The first issue is that the text ambiguously refers to “performing arts” without explicitly defining who that applies to.

Who is really affected by this policy?

Does this policy apply to solely those in an after-school play? Could someone in an a cappella group be pulled from a performance? Could someone in the Bolco BTown Samba Drums club be pulled from performing at the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly? Could a singer be forced to miss the next Open Mic Night? Could Feats on the Floor lose key members of a dance performance because students were caught drinking?

Interim Headmaster John Ritchie, who recognizes the need to address this lack of clarity, said, “Nothing is perfect, but if we mean only plays, let’s say only plays. If we say performances, then that should include others.”

We must be explicit in the wording of whom this policy applies to, because the policy can only be effective if it is transparent.

The second issue is that the policy is unclear as to when it should be applied. Unlike the chemical health policy for sports, which has concrete and clear consequences for violations, the performing arts policy has an ambiguous clause at the end, leaving discipline to the director’s discretion.

This part of the policy reads, “*If the faculty member deems that there is not enough time to replace the student, then, in the interest of not penalizing the whole cast or show, the student will be allowed to perform in the upcoming production, but will not be eligible to audition for the next production.”

Absent of clear parameters as to when a cast member is ejected, administrators are creating actual injustice for everyone: those punished, those left unpunished, cast members who abide by the policy and especially the directors who have the burden of making the call.

“My personal belief is that there shouldn’t be any asterisk. If we are going to have a performing arts chemical health policy students have to know,” said ,Ritchie. “If you are starring in Hamlet starting Wednesday and you get busted Tuesday night, you’re out. Forget about the disruption to the other kids.

“If every student knows that, shouldn’t that be enough incentive, so that you wouldn’t violate the rules?” continued Ritchie. I mean, if the quarterback gets busted on Friday night, he doesn’t play Saturday. Why should it be different for kids in a play?”

While Ritchie suggests a particularly severe consequence, we appreciate his desire for clarity.

And students agree. Former and current drama society members have said that leaving it up to the discretion of the directors allows for too much leeway in the policy.

According to Performing Arts Curriculum Coordinator Lynn Modell, the drama teachers have been in the process of revising the policy since June 2010. Since this policy has remained in flux for so long, the authority of the policy is undermined.

It appears unlikely that the policy will be revised while Ritchie is at the school.

If the school expects us to believe that they take chemical health seriously, then they need to find a way to expedite this process.