Lincoln-Sudbury principal issues guidelines for football game

The head of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School students issued guidelines for tonight's football game following an incident of heavy drinking among several students at last week's game.

In an email circulated to parents Thursday, Superintendent/Principal John Ritchie said students must be accompanied by a responsible adult, such as a parent.

But Ritchie said school officials will not be checking adult IDs to ensure they are the parent of the student they accompany and that it would be acceptable for one adult to escort two to three students, even if one is not their child, if that child’s parent is unable to come.

A responsible adult could be a parent, neighbor, relative, or family friend, he wrote in the email to parents.

The adult does not have to sit with their students but must “assume a general responsibility for their conduct,'' he said in the email. Leaving at halftime, for example, would not be acceptable, he said in the e-mail.

“We ask that you observe the spirit of the approach,” Ritchie wrote.

The guidelines come after drinking occurred at last Friday’s home opener football game, sending two students to the hospital. Seven pupils were suspended.

On Thursday, police said four students had been charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol.

Ritchie has taken a hard line against alcohol use following last week's game, in emails and statements to parents. The episode, and Ritchie's reaction to it, has prompted widespread discussion within Lincoln and Sudbury and the region. Read some of that reaction here.

In the e-mail Thursday, he wrote he was “extremely impressed” with how students responded to the incident.

“There is a widespread acceptance throughout the school that Friday was unacceptable, that things need to change, and that the actions of many, many students made the whole school look bad,” he wrote. “They readily admit that this was not a case of a few students making everyone appear irresponsible.”

Students have been proposing ideas for long term solutions, he wrote.

“It is not an us versus them mentality, so it is good to have a feeling of common purpose,” Ritchie wrote.

– Brian Benson, Globe Correspondent