OLD TOWN – Sixty-three athletes at Old Town High School have received 10-day suspensions from their respective teams for violating the school’s interscholastic activities code.

The disciplinary action came about Tuesday and Wednesday after school officials discovered a large number of students had attended a Friday night party where alcohol was served.

According to a letter from Old Town High School Principal Don Sturgeon to parents of suspended students and a memo given to coaches, the party was planned (several invitations were given out), there was full knowledge that alcohol would be present, more than 100 people attended the party, and the ages of those present ranged from 12 to 25.

Parents were not present at the party. The parents of the student hosting the party were away for the weekend.

“We started dealing with it Monday,” said Sturgeon. “We had word that there was a party, that there were athletes there, and we started – in talking to people – to generate a list of names.”

Sturgeon said he hoped to have everything resolved by Monday afternoon because there were some activities scheduled later that day.

“We met with three different groups involved, and we were not comfortable with the answers we were getting to the point where we felt that we could say `Yes, you, you, you and you,’ so we decided to let them go on and pick it up Tuesday,” said Sturgeon.

“We didn’t feel totally comfortable with it, but we wanted to be fair.”

Sturgeon decided to meet with all the coaches involved Tuesday afternoon, tell them what was known, and discuss the procedure he wanted them to follow.

“I wanted them to basically confront students with the situation and encourage them to be honest, and if they were guilty, to sign that they were, and we would go from there,” Sturgeon said.

The guilty students admitted they were at the party and signed statements stipulating that Tuesday and Wednesday.

The suspended athletes will still attend school, but are not allowed to practice or play with their teams until Tuesday, Sept. 27.

The suspensions affect the boys and girls soccer teams, boys and girls cross country, football, cheerleading and field hockey.

“We told them if you did the crime, then you do the time,” said Old Town football coach Garry Spencer, who lost five varsity and five freshman players out of 70 total members.

Hardest hit are the girls varsity soccer and field hockey teams. The girls soccer team lost 15 of 34 players and field hockey lost 26 of 50.

Boys soccer lost one member, cheering five and cross country six.

The girls soccer and field hockey teams were so depleted, they had to call up junior varsity players to field full teams Wednesday.

“As far as this being a unifying force or something to rally around, I don’t know,” said Bill Meehan, girls soccer coach.

“Whenever you have a situation like this, it presents a lot of adversity. I have concerns whether we can put this behind us.”

The soccer team lost 2-1 to John Bapst of Bangor and Orono beat the field hockey team 2-0.

“This sends a clear message that athletes will be held accountable to the school policies and pay the price,” said Julie Hammer, field hockey coach. “I’m just proud of the girls (not suspended) and the way they’ve stepped up.”

Sturgeon said the final number of students suspended may increase as other facts are gathered or more students come forward. If that’s the case, those students will face stiffer penalties.

“If we continue to investigate and find some who have lied to us and tried not to live up to their responsibilities, then they will have an extended suspension of 20 (days),” said Sturgeon.

The regulations and policies section of Old Town High and Leonard Middle School’s interscholastic activities code specifically spells out what are considered substance abuse violations:

“This may include, but not be limited to being present in a vehicle transporting illegal drugs or alcohol, or knowingly being present in an area in which alcohol and/or drugs are present.”

“This has been a longstanding policy for, I would say, 10, 15, or 20 years,” said Sturgeon, who has been principal at the school for 27 years.

A copy of the five-page code is given to every participant on a school-sponsored, organized team or event.

Sturgeon said participants and their parents are asked to read and sign an approval form which says, in part: “It also indicates that you have read the Activities Code and agree to do your part to assure that your son/daughter is in full compliance.”

“We also have a meeting with parents and athletes – it was on Sunday, Aug. 14 this year – where we go over policies. We addressed our concerns, gave examples of violations … they knew the policy,” Sturgeon said.

Parents have been very supportive and cooperative, according to Sturgeon, who hopes this incident will lead to more parents communicating and becoming involved.

One example Sturgeon uses at these meetings is students going to a place not knowing alcohol is being served. If they leave immediately, they are not in violation of the code. If they stay, even for a minute or two, they’ve violated the policy.

“We don’t have a school of bad kids by any stretch of the imagination,” said Sturgeon. “But we do have some kids who made bad decisions. Also, it’s important to note there were also many kids who didn’t go to the party and honored their agreement.

“The message of all this is it’s important in education to teach honesty, integrity and responsibility. That’s what we’re trying to do here. It would be easier not to deal with it, but we feel it’s not the message kids need to get. It’s our responsibility to deal with it out in the open – as we have in the past and will continue in the future.”

The doling out of punishment was seen as a positive step in dealing with the problem according to community leaders.

“This is a community problem, not a school problem,” said Dr. John Grady, who has been the superintendent of schools in Old Town for 24 years. “As the facts continue to come out, we’re hearing that a lot of parents didn’t know where their kids were. Some were out of town and thought their kids were home. School officials aren’t expected to know where the students are on weekends.

“Hopefully, a lesson has been learned by the youngsters and the parents. I pray they’ve learned a lesson from this,” added Grady.

Grady has raised six daughters and said, “The backache of chauffeuring is a lot better than the heartache if you don’t.”

Bill Mitchell, a past president of the Old Town Boosters Club, would have preferred a more stringent punishment for youngsters who imbibed.

“Some parents and I were discussing it at a soccer game and we felt the athletes who participated in taking alcohol or drugs should be suspended for that particular sports season. The only way kids are going to learn to be responsible for their actions is by having something taken away,” said Mitchell. “For those who were in the presence of alcohol but didn’t participate, 10 days is fine.”

However, Mitchell also said that the suspension should last just for the season. For example, if a field hockey player also plays basketball, she should be allowed to participate on the basketball team this winter.

“There should be redemption. An athlete should be given another chance to show they learned from this experience,” stated Mitchell.

Linda McLeod, chairwoman of the School Board, said 10 days is a suitable suspension.

“I don’t think it would be fair to have them sit out the entire season,” said McLeod. “I think a 10-day suspension hurts enough. I believe they will have learned their lesson.”

McLeod and fellow School Board member Lynn Higgins wondered about the punishment handed out to the non-athletes at the party.

“They’re just as guilty. Maybe their parents should be notified by letter that their child was at this party,” said McLeod.

Higgins said maybe this situation will call attention to a problem shared by the community, a problem that needs to be rectified.

“This will get the message out that we have to pay close attention to what our kids are doing,” said Higgins, who has been one of the School Board members who has expressed concern about the consumption of alcohol on the school grounds.

This has taken place in the summer as well as during the school year and involves older non-students as well as students.

Staff writer Larry Mahoney contributed to this story.