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| By Sarah M. Corigliano Assistant Managing Editor WILBRAHAM The Wilbraham resident on the receiving end of a letter from the chairman of the regional school committee and a trespass notice from the Wilbraham Police Department that forbids him from entering Minnechaug Regional High School for a year sought clarity last week from the School Committee as to which form to follow. Robert Page received a letter from Hampden-Wilbraham School Committee Chairman Scott Chapman Aug. 10 after entering and touring Minnechaug Regional High School the previous day without the Committee's permission to do so. Chapman's letter outlined the events and times Page and other members of the public are allowed to enter school buildings, such as for Town Meetings, School Committee meetings and sports and public events, and said Page was not to enter school buildings at other times without Chapman's authorization. Page said he entered Minnechaug Regional High School with the permission of a staff member in the superintendent's office to see the auditorium. Page said after he looked at the auditorium, he saw that the building did not have any students in it and continued to walk the corridors. Last week, he said he knows it was wrong to continue touring the school without permission and said he realized his mistake. At the time he was in the building he said he was escorted out by a vice principal. At the Aug. 22 School Committee meeting, Page questioned whether Chapman had the authority to ban him from school buildings and requested that the Committee review the matter and respond. On Sept. 7, the Wilbraham Police Department served Page with a trespass notice which was filed by Chapman, prohibiting him from being present on Minnechaug Regional High School grounds for a year. Last Tuesday, Page attended the School Committee meeting expressing his concern that Chapman had escalated the situation with the trespass notice. After the meeting Tuesday, Page said he was still unsure whether he should follow Chapman's letter, which allowed him to enter school buildings during public events, or the trespass notice, which only said he was not to enter Minnechaug Regional High School for a year this would prevent him from participating in Town Meeting, attending public meetings or watching his grandson's sports games, he said. Chapman said it was explained to Page at the meeting that, while he did receive the trespass notice forbidding him to enter MRHS at all, he was not prevented from taking part in public events. Chapman said the notice did not place on Page any restrictions beyond those that are in place for all members of the public, but that it simply put him on official notice not to trespass again. "My understanding is that he [Page] went through the superintendent's office and asked a very busy secretary if he could look at the gym," Chapman said. "He was found on the complete other end of the building by an administrator ... I think it was a little covert, to be honest." Chapman explained that, while voters may like to see for themselves the condition of Minnechaug Regional High School, which the School Committee has voted to replace pending support from the state, they may not enter the schools unescorted at any time of year. He said the restrictions are security measures to protect students, who he said are in the school buildings throughout the year, even during vacations. "We did open houses for two years and hosted tours with students and staff ... we had public forums and five or six open houses," Chapman said. He said he doesn't understand the urgency to view the building unescorted, as the School Committee won't know whether or not their project will be approved by the state School Building Authority until July 2007. "From there, it goes to the voters," he added. He said there have not been any additional requests to view the building. He also said visitors to any school building, including Minnechaug which has security cameras at its entrances, must use the main entrance, sign in, and be approved by administration before moving about the building. "I thought this issue was over two weeks ago," Chapman said. "I have said this before there are so many important issues and in my mind this is a very insignificant issue. We lost two active students in August, a teacher lost her son, we had a visit from [Dawn Bechtel] from Mississippi, it's the beginning of school ... I think it is so insignificant an issue and yet we're forced to deal with it ... as far as I am concerned this was over with Aug. 10 when I sent the letter." Last week, Page said he was afraid to follow Chapman's verbal clarification of the trespass notice when the legal paperwork did not include those details. He said he feared being arrested if he attended a public event at Minnechaug. Wilbraham Police Chief Allen Stratton told The Reminder last week that he spoke with Page and Chapman and, while the trespass notice does not contain specific exceptions, he said the Police Department will follow the intent of the original letter written by Chapman and that Page should not fear arrest if he is in a school building during a public event or if escorted by a school official. "The original notice indicated not to enter [MRHS or other schools] absent a public meeting ... that's what I understand the intent [of the trespass notice] to be," Stratton said. "I will clarify that for both parties." Stratton said that the trespass notice may be rescinded and re-submitted by Chapman with clarifications, but that the action was not necessary for Page to enter school buildings without fear of arrest during public events. He said police would follow the "original intent" of Chapman's letter regardless. Stratton added that arrest is not necessarily the action that would be taken if a person trespasses on a specified property, even after receiving notice. He also said the trespass notice may by rescinded at any time by the person who filed it, and that after a year it will be discarded unless otherwise requested. Page said it is not worth his time and money to take this issue to court, but that he would see it as resolved if Chapman would re-file the trespass notice to include the exceptions. However, Page maintains that Chapman did not have the authority in the first place to personally restrict him from the buildings and has sought action from the School Committee to rescind Chapman's original instructions. "I feel the punishment does not fit the crime," Page said. "It has been said that I violated school policy. It is my understanding that there is no formal policy, only an ambiguous concept. Should I have been called to task? Yes. Is the action taken excessive? In my opinion, yes. "All this has happened to protect an empty building and students who were not present." Page added that the group Concerned Citizens of Wilbraham, of which he is president, will meet next week and this personal issue of Page's will not affect the group's agenda or goals for the year. |