WESTBROOK – Marc Sawyer, the Westbrook athletic director whose resignation is effective June 30, has been taking sick days following another student drinking incident in April, but could still return to finish out the school year, according to Superintendent Marc Gousse.

Gousse said Monday that Sawyer is facing “personal challenges” and is away under “his own volition,” but is technically still the acting athletic director and could return to close out the year.

Gousse added that he wants to make sure the public knows that Sawyer was not asked to leave, and said the most recent round of student suspensions “has impacted our entire community.”

He said that the school department is trying to respect Sawyer’s privacy and “trying to respect his decision, and if and when he’s ready to come back, he’ll come back. If it’s not working for him to do that, he’s earned the time away.”

Sawyer has been using accumulated sick days for his time away, and is not on paid or administrative leave, Gousse said.

This is the latest development in a string of controversies prompted by student drinking in Westbrook. On April 22, two students were arrested and others were summonsed after police broke up a party on Sargent Street.

The incident sparked seven suspensions of Westbrook High School student-athletes from their respective sports programs, including four from the varsity baseball team.

Sawyer could not be reached for comment prior to the American Journal’s deadline Wednesday.

Jon Ross, Westbrook High School’s principal, said Wednesday that he has been in contact with Sawyer, and while he doesn’t expect him to return to the school to run games, he could foresee Sawyer helping to close out the athletic season.

“Marc is still my athletic director, but he is not able to perform his duties here at school right now,” he said. “He may be coming back to give us a hand with a few things, but he’s not going to be doing game management.”

In the interim, Assistant Principal Tim Stebbins will be taking over Sawyer’s duties.

Sawyer, who graduated from Westbrook High School in 1991, has been the school department’s athletic director since 2012. He has been deeply involved in a controversy since November stemming from the lifting of suspensions of more than 30 Westbrook student-athletes and an independent report that followed. He announced his resignation in early April, citing boundary issues and the “incestuous culture of the community.”

In April, a Facebook post by Sawyer shared an email he sent to Westbrook staff, thanking them for support throughout the controversy, and for his decision to resign.

“We live in a day in age where it is very easy to speculate why, even to go as far as to pass baseless blame, but please know that this decision was not made lightly,” he said. “Please do not pass blame, it only makes this process that much harder. We often spend a great deal of time reflecting on how life used to be, and I have done much of that in my return to Westbrook.”

Sawyer went on to say, “Please know that I am doing great and I cherish the time that I have been able to share with you. I ask you not to waste one ounce of energy on trying to change something that has already been done, rather waste all your energy on a commitment to integrity, perseverance, and aspirations.”

In response to the controversy surrounding the code of conduct policy, recommended changes have been made to the School Committee’s policy committee, including the removal of a clause known as “knowingly present,” which became a factor in the November decision to overturn the suspensions.

In consultant John Alfano’s report, released in February, he said the “knowingly present” clause is “nearly impossible to enforce,” but also said it suffered from a lack of support from the school department to enforce the policy, which came from pressure from parents and others outside the department.

Ross said last week that the proposed policy changes will remove the “knowingly present” clause and shift language to “put the burden of proof back on the student.” With “knowingly present,” the administrator had to prove the student was at a party with alcohol present, and an updated policy aims to put more emphasis on students to prove they were not at a party.

Ross also said the other recommended policy change is to reduce the suspension time for a first infraction by two weeks, from the original four-week model.

Ross said Wednesday that the policy changes will be sent to the School Committee, but it is unknown whether the committee will take up the issue at its next meeting, Wednesday, May 14.