A Gorham school board committee is recommending changes to the district’s substance-abuse policy in a review stemming from an underage drinking incident in February.

Under current rules in a first offense, Gorham athletes might not be suspended from their team if they turn themselves in. But that could change if the full school committee approves the recommendations.

“We determined that self-referrals would still have to sit out one sanctioned game,” said Policy Committee Chairman Jason Libby.

The proposed changes follow underage drinking that took place in a Gorham home in February that involved members of the Gorham boys hockey team. The incident came less than a week before a playoff game. A grandparent of one of the players questioned why members on the team involved in the incident weren’t suspended from the game.

In March, Gorham police issued summonses for two Gorham teenagers and a Limerick man in connection with the underage drinking at the home.

In response to the questions from the grandparent, the Policy Committee reviewed the school’s substance abuse policy. Even with modifications, Libby said, the policy wouldn’t be as tough as Westbrook’s, which prohibits athletes from being at a party where there is drinking, even if they are not participating in it.

Libby said the first reading of the proposed changes would be this month. “The days of anyone getting a free walk are over,” Libby said.

Gorham School Superintendent Ted Sharp discussed the recommendations in an interview, after barring an American Journal reporter from attending the Policy Committee meeting last week. Sharp argued the three School Committee members who sit on the Policy Committee – Libby, Janet Williams and Roger Marchand – did not constitute a quorum.

After the American Journal objected to the closing of the meeting in a letter, citing state law, and requested all records from the meeting, Sharp apologized for barring the reporter from the meeting and agreed to discuss the recommendations in an interview. No minutes were kept of the meeting.