Camp St. John Resolves Public Health Violations

Director Derek Brindisi revisited to go over the violations flagged by the state Department of Public Health in July.

After a pool accident on July 14 that resulted in the death of a 7-year-old camper, the state Department of Public Health inspected the pool and the camp and issued more than 50 violations.

After the initial July 18 inspection by the state and local health officials, they determined the pool and camp were safe and healthy and able to open and be used for all activities, despite the violations cited by the state.

After the inspection, the Shrewsbury Health Department was required to revisit the school and follow-up on the violations this week.

"All noted discrepancies identified by the state have been satisfied," Brindisi said. "I was at the camp on Tuesday and followed up on the state's concerns and the violations were resolved."

Brindisi said he could not comment on the cause of the pool accident and said the violations that were cited were not related to the pool accident.

"For half a century St. John's camp has been providing children a wonderful summertime experience. We have an outstanding reputation," said Michael Welch, headmaster of in a press release. "We have always placed the safety and health of our campers and counselors first, and we always will."

Welch said most of the regulatory discrepancies had to do with the details of record-keeping. "For example, all criminal and sexual offense background checks were fully done prior to camp," Welch said. "But we were cited because we were unable to provide paper copies at the time of the inspection. We have all of those records, and everyone working here is in good standing."

He also said other reports of violations were similarily misleading. "At no time did we store food in any toxic containers or improperly place toxic materials near food preparation. The state report misunderstood that we use a special bottle of vegetable oil to lubricate kitchen equipment, but even that is not in the food preparation area," he said.

The last day of Camp St. John season is today.