School Committee approves new locker room supervision policy

  A new team supervision policy in the Revere school athletics handbook will give coaches greater oversight over what happens in the locker room. Last week, the School Committee signed off on the new policy, which was presented by Athletic Director Frank Shea. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dianne Kelly said the new policy is a result of new state legislation triggered by incidents in locker rooms in other districts in the state.

  Parents and students will have to sign off on the policy before sports seasons begin, as they do with several other athletic policies.

  “This policy specifically deals with coaches and supervision of athletes, specifically in locker rooms and team changing room areas,” said Shea. “It addresses a vital need for adult supervision whenever students are in a coach’s care in an athletic facility both on campus and off campus.”

  Shea said the policy brings awareness to coaches that they have to be more vigilant in all areas, and it strengthens the athlete handbook by including policies similar to ones being updated and used in other districts. “In the last couple of years, there have been some incidents in surrounding districts that have centered around team rooms or locker rooms, so schools are strengthening their policies by adding language such as this,” said Shea. “It is a release of liability policy that tells students and parents that they will be monitored while in locker rooms.”

  The policy doesn’t mean that a coach will be a constant presence in a locker room before or after a game or practice, but that coaches may pass through the locker room and will always be within earshot. “If they hear anything, they will step into the locker room and address that behavior,” said Shea.

  Some of the most high-profile high school locker room incidents came to light in Danvers last year, where several teams were accused of using racist language in their locker rooms.

  Shea said the schools will provide a changing stall or privacy curtains for any students who want them, as he said is already the case in almost all of the district’s locker room facilities.

  “Just having kids aware that coaches are there gives them an atmosphere of safety and it will protect us from anything bad happening going forward,” said Shea.