In light of recent events and resulting confusion among the student body over the equity of school disciplinary policies, Scholium sat down with Head of Upper School, Geoffrey Wagg, and [Discipline Council faculty member] Kris Aldridge, to set the record straight about the policy regarding alcohol and drug use.
The Discipline Council consists of four faculty members, Leslie Trimble, Sheryl Foreste-Grupp, Mark Eripret, and Kris Aldridge, along with one student member from each form in the upper school, each of whom was voted into office by their peers.
Aldridge, an Upper School history teacher, emphasized that “Students have absolutely equal say” in council meetings. During these meetings, “A student disagrees with a faculty member as often as a faculty member will disagree with a faculty member, or a student will disagree with a student.” However, because the committee bases most of its punishments on precedent, “nine times out of ten, there is a unanimous decision.”
Episcopal maintains a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol usage on school property during the academic day. Aldridge stated that, even though that type of case does not always reach the committee, “If they come to the committee, to my knowledge, the committee has recommended expulsion in all the cases.”
However, if alcohol or drugs are used by students during school-related events, such as dances or sporting events, outside of the academic day, the situation is treated differently. According to Wagg, “It is more likely for children to make the wrong choice when it comes to dances rather than the school day, so there has been a two-strike policy. If you drink at a dance, chances are that you’ll be suspended for two days and put on [academic] probation for two weeks.”
Though the one strike policy has been enforced for nearly all students who have committed offenses during the academic day, Wagg mentioned that in the case of “seniors who get in trouble after they’ve completed their classes,” the policy is often altered. In this case, the senior at fault would likely be suspended from campus for the remainder of the year and forbidden to walk with his or her class at graduation. However, that student could possibly receive his or her diploma.
Many students are also unclear about the school’s role in punishing offenses which are not school-related. Wagg asserted, “We, as the school, are not trying to police behavior on the weekends. If we’re concerned about a child, we’ll actually require that they get counseled.”
However, if a student is found to have hosted an event that permitted alcohol or illegal substances, punishment is enforced. According to Wagg, the host is at fault with the school because that student is providing “a venue that puts other students at risk.” As a result, the social host is likely to receive a two day suspension along with two weeks of academic probation.
For all of cases discussed above, the Disciplinary Council recommends the punishment of the accused. Students who go before the committee have already been found guilty. The Disciplinary Council’s role is not to judge innocence, but instead to “determine what the community’s response to what they did wrong should be,” according to Wagg. Aldridge described the committee as a “recommending body. We recommend our decision to Mr. Wagg and Mr. Clark, and it is totally up to them what they want to do.”
According to Aldridge, there were 20 disciplinary cases heard by the committee last year, consisting of more cases of academic dishonesty than cases of students violating drug and alcohol policy.
When asked whether there were any plans for communicating the details of discipline issues to the school community in the future, Wagg replied, “The disciplinary report is private, privileged information. You’re weighing the privacy rights of students with the community’s right to know what the appropriate consequences are.”
He concluded, “Episcopal has always believed in redemption, that if you break a rule, you go through the process, you deal with the consequences, and then you move on.”

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