GORHAM – Empowering principals to restrict access to school property, Gorham’s School Committee is considering a new policy governing school visits.

School officials said this week its proposed policy regulating visitors, based on one developed by Maine School Management Association, is aimed at safety. Police could be called to enforce compliance.

“The only reason that we have decided to have a visitors policy is because it is a policy that is recommended by Maine School Management,” Superintendent Ted Sharp said Tuesday. “That is the genesis behind most public school system policies. There is no other agenda behind it.”

Regulating the entrance to schools has been a widespread concern of school officials following the shooting rampage in December at a school in Newtown, Conn. A second reading on Gorham’s proposed policy was scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, after the American Journal’s deadline.

The Gorham schools policy committee, chaired by School Committee member Roger Marchand, brought its policy, as approved by the subcommittee on Jan. 29, forward to the full School Committee.

“The subcommittee typically reviews and updates several policies a month and adds new policies when deemed appropriate,” Kyle Currier, chairwoman of Gorham School Committee, said. “There has been no incident in our schools that prompted this new policy.”

Marchand said safety is the No. 1 concern of the School Committee. Marchand said the committee is not interested in keeping out people who have a reason to visit.

Gorham did not have a written policy regulating visitors, but in the past visitors usually have checked in voluntarily with a school’s main office and were then issued passes.

Under the new policy, “all visitors shall report to the main office upon arrival at the school.”

The policy language also reads, “The building administrator/designee has the authority to refuse entry to school grounds or buildings to persons who do not have legitimate, school-related business and/or who may disrupt the operations of the schools. This may include, but not limited to, the news media, profit-making businesses, fundraisers and other organizations seeking access to students and/or staff.”

School staff is directed to report unauthorized persons on school grounds or in school buildings.

It’s unlikely a school principal would deny the news media access, according to Marchand.

“I don’t see it happening,” he said. “If you’re there to cover something, that’s legitimate.”

Mal Leary, president of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, said Wednesday it looks like Gorham is catching up with other schools in adopting policies. He conferred with other coalition members and it is not concerned about the policy.

“At first reading, the ban on news media is qualified to apply only to those ‘who do not have legitimate, school-related business and/or who may disrupt the operations of the schools,’ and there really isn’t a problem there, in our reading,” Leary said. “The news media should behave itself. And remember, school-related business is all public business, so on first reading, we haven’t found any reason to be concerned.”

Charlotte Bates, director of policy and resource services at Maine School Management Association, provided a copy of its policy.

“The Gorham board’s proposed policy, which I have seen, is based on this sample policy,” Bates said.

The Westbrook School Department’s policy is also similar to the association’s suggested policy.

“We have recently been reviewing our policies related to school safety and will be reviewing this policy, as well,” Suzanne Salisbury, vice chairwoman of Westbrook School Committee and a policy committee member, said this week.

The school management association’s suggested policy, along with Westbrook’s and the one proposed for Gorham, all cite that visitors must comply with all school board rules, and violators would be asked to leave.

Both Westbrook and Gorham policies subject individual school board members to the same requirements as other visitors.

“We have also placed limitations on ourselves,” Marchand said.