FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 directors voted unanimously Tuesday to expel a Mt. Blue High School junior for possession and furnishing a scheduled drug, Superintendent Tom Ward said Thursday.
Farmington police charged Emily McArthur, 18, of Farmington, by summons with felony aggravated furnishing of a scheduled drug, police Deputy Chief Shane Cote said. The charge was aggravated because it was at a school, he said.
McArthur gave one Vicodin pill, a prescription drug, to another student at the Mt. Blue Campus, Ward said.
The incident happened Nov. 19, Cote said.
McArthur is scheduled to appear at a Farmington court on Jan. 6. A conviction carries up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Board members made their decision after an hourlong expulsion hearing.
McArthur will have to complete a re-entry plan that is being developed by administrators.
“If the student follows up on the terms of the plan, they will meet with me, and I will decide if they are ready to go to the board,” Ward said. If he decides McArthur is ready, he will make a recommendation to the board to return to school, he said.
Following the hearing, the school board discussed putting together an ad hoc Safe Schools Committee that will consist of school administrators, guidance counselors, board members. They would like to have a police officer representing Farmington and Wilton police departments and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
They will also contact the Healthy Maine Coalition to see if it can get a couple of members “so we can really take a good look at where our communities are with drugs and alcohol use to try and get a handle on what is going on,” he said.
Once they know what is going on, they will look at what the district can do about it.
“Our No. 1 priority is to make sure our schools are safe,” he said.
During the process, they will also look at data from the past several years. The coalition will provide the data, he said.
The effort will also be to increase awareness for school officials and representatives and the communities, he said.
dperry@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
