From now on, a Wiscasset High School student’s third incident with substance abuse would kick in an added measure to rules already in place: The student would now have to ask the school committee for reinstatement to sports and other extracurricular activities.

The meeting would be closed to the public; the committee would consider the past incidents and written recommendations from a service provider involved in the student’s required treatment program.

The committee approved the handbook with the changes on Sept. 25,  as year one of the Wiscasset School Department continues to roll out. The changes streamline and clarify language the handbook had while the town was part of Regional School Unit 12, Interim Superintendent of Schools Lyford Beverage said Sept. 30.

Making the steps in the process as clear as possible is better for everybody involved, Beverage said.

“At best, it’s a very, very unpleasant situation to deal with, and clarity is really critical,” he said.

A rise that Wiscasset police and the school administration were seeing in student substance abuse prompted a January meeting with parents. Participants discussed possible changes to substance abuse policies, and Police Chief Troy Cline announced plans to seek a school resource officer in the town’s next budget.

Wiscasset voters passed the police budget with the new position in June.

Wiscasset High School Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Sarah Ricker presented the handbook to the committee Thursday night. In an email ahead of the meeting, Ricker discussed how the school arrived at changes to the handbook.

“Changes ... were made based on multiple conversations with coaches, support of policy, and examples provided from other high schools,” Ricker states in the Sept. 25 email answering questions from the Wiscasset Newspaper.