Pubdate: Fri, 06 Feb 2004
Source: Sentinel And Enterprise, The (MA)
Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://sentinelandenterprise.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2498
Authors: Katie Curnutte, and Lisa Guerriero
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

POLICE SEARCH SCHOOL WITH DOGS, COME UP EMPTY

Some Students Upset, Others Call Drugs A Problem

LEOMINSTER -- School officials kept Leominster High School students in 
their classrooms for 30 minutes Thursday as state police and drug-sniffing 
dogs searched the hallways.

The lock down came at 8:35 a.m., when an administrator announced over the 
loudspeaker that students and teachers must stay in their classrooms until 
the search was over.

Dogs alerted police to three or four lockers during the search, but police 
found no drugs, said Principal William Hart.

Sophomore Johanna Creamer said after school on Thursday that the search was 
"uncalled for."

"It was like a lock down," Creamer said. "That's what everyone said, they 
were yelling 'lock down, lock down.' It was horrible, it was uncalled for. 
(School officials) already deal with drugs -- they don't have to use big 
dogs to scare us." Some students thought the search sent the wrong message 
to students. "I think it's disgusting," said junior Colin Progen. "It makes 
us look bad." The announcement signaling the start of the lock down scared 
some students, said junior Vanessa Bosley.

"At first we thought it was a gun," she said. "They scared us." Police and 
school administrators had been planning the search for months, said 
Assistant Principal Tom Browne.

"It's an ongoing effort to provide as safe an environment as possible," 
Browne said.

Administrators announced all students and teachers should stay in their 
classrooms during second period because of the search. Students in the 
halls were instructed to go into a classroom. They were released at the end 
of second period.

"It didn't disrupt any classes," Browne said. The search lasted about 30 
minutes, Hart said. There was no contact between the dogs and students, 
Browne said.

Junior Amanda Schuster said she was getting a book from her locker when the 
announcement came over the loudspeaker.

She was pulled into the closest classroom -- which was not her normal 
second-period class -- and sat there the rest of the period, Schuster said. 
Drugs are not a big enough problem at the high school to warrant a search, 
Bosley said.

"I think it's ridiculous," she said. "It makes us feel like criminals." Not 
all students thought the search was a bad idea.

Yanina Fusaro, a junior, said it's about time the school took serious steps 
to keep drugs out.

"I thought it was a good idea, because lately there have been a lot of 
drugs and no one's been able to take control of it," Fusaro said. Fusaro's 
friend, Jessie Leon, a junior, said marijuana is common, but she believes 
ecstasy, Oxycontin and other drugs are also on school grounds. "(Drugs) are 
basically all around," Leon said, especially in bathrooms. Students sell 
and use drugs in school to fit in, or to make money, Fusaro and Leon said. 
Freshman and sophomore students often sell to each other, they said. 
"There's over a thousand people here," Fusaro said. "It's the best place to 
sell." Despite their support of the administration's crackdown, the girls 
were apprehensive about their privacy being invaded.

"My locker was investigated, and I didn't have anything. It was one near 
me," said Fusaro, whose locker is on the first floor of the A-wing. Fusaro 
said she would prefer being checked for drugs upon entering the school than 
have dogs patrolling the grounds.

The search was a hot topic of conversation during the school day. "Everyone 
was asking if anyone had heard anything," said junior Brad Harris. Police 
Chief Peter Roddy called the search "routine." "We just want to make sure 
everything's all right," he said. School Resource Officer Steven Creamer 
made several drug arrests at the high school in January, according to 
police reports.

One netted four juveniles who were charged with various crimes, including 
distributing controlled substances in a school zone. There was another 
search about two years ago, Hart said.
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