Selectmen Ready Warrant For Town Meeting

Selectmen voted Tuesday to not support a Town Meeting proposal to challenge and likely invalidate Swampscott High School’s chemical health policy.

The Town Meeting proposal, Article 10, would accept a state law that prevents schools from suspending or disciplining students for conduct unconnected to school-sponsored activities.

On Tuesday, selectmen opened and closed the 29-article Town Meeting warrant in preparation for the meeting, less than a month away.

Selectmen’s Chairwoman Jill Sullivan said after the board’s meeting that the chemical health policy question is a School Committee, School Administration and parent matter, not a selectmen's matter.

Heidi McCoy and others gathered petition signatures to place Article 10 on the warrant.

McCoy, who belongs to the group Repeal and Rethink, opposes the chemical policy, in part, because of its year-round powers.

Town Meeting will open April 26, with elections, after which the meeting will be adjourned until May 2.

On that date, Town Meeting representatives will gather at Swampscott High School, starting at 7:15 p.m., to take up the remaining articles.

On Tuesday, selectmen had expected to sign an agreement with Lynn for dispatch services but the final draft has yet to be fully reviewed, Sullivan said.

The chairwoman expects selectmen will sign the agreement the next time they meet, Monday, May 2, at 6 p.m.