By CAITLIN ANDREWS
Monitor staff
Reports of fighting and vandalism at the Weare Middle School skate park has police and school officials asking who is responsible for enforcing the rules.
The skate park isn’t a school facility, but it’s on school property, selectmen and school board members were told this week.
Weare Middle School principal Mark Willis said he and Shawne Hilliard, principal at Center Woods Upper Elementary School, often meet resistance from students when they attempt to discipline them. They said students believe school officials do not have the authority to do so because the skate park is owned and maintained by the town, even though it is on school property.
Fighting and vandalism at the skate park started back in September, as have complaints of profanity from parents who frequent the nearby community playground with small children, according to school board chair Marjorie Burke. The park is also often visited by older students and residents from out of town, which isn’t always “a good mix,” Willis said.
Weare police chief Sean Kelly said the issue of jurisdiction is important to resolve, because it affects how the police respond to incidents. He said calls to the park for incidents were relatively few considering how often the park is used. At a joint meeting between the school board and selectment Tuesday, he suggested that if problems had grown more severe, police should be called more frequently.
Willis produced older pictures taken at the park that show sections of the fence bent back and torn away, and picnic tables that have required chaining because people drag them to the park to do tricks on them. Now, the picnic tables occasionally get flipped over.
The initial solution the two boards settled on was giving enforcement of the rules to the school and communicating that clearly to the community. Select board vice chair Thomas Clow said giving the school authority would allow officials to communicate their expectations to students and parents through newsletters, as well as the ability to speak to parents directly when an incident occurs. Clow also said it would be a good idea to post an age limit and a “residents only” sign to make it clear the skate park is meant for students only.
But Willis and school board vice chair Donny Guillemette said the idea of moving the park should be explored on a long-term basis, although they were against the idea of getting rid of the park completely.
Select board chair John Meaney pointed out that moving the park to an area where it might be less visible wouldn’t help the issue of vandalism at the park, as the current location is already poorly lit, making it difficult to see when people are at the park after dark. He asked Kelly if it would be possible to direct police officers to patrol the area more often as a deterrent.
Kelly said it was unlikely, as the town’s nine full-time officers are already dealing with a heavy caseload and over 6,000 calls for service each year; if police did pass by the area, he said, it would be infrequently.
The best way to involve police, he said, was for people to call when an incident occurs.
The school board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)