Pubdate: Thu, 17 Aug 2006
Source: News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)
Copyright: 2006 The News-Times
Contact:  http://www.newstimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/637
Author: Susan Tuz, The News Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SCHOOL BOARD OKS DRUG DOG

Police K-9 Unit Will Assist In Random Drug Searches At  Newtown High
This Year

NEWTOWN - Before school starts Aug. 29, Newtown High  School students
and parents will receive letters  stating random drug searches will
take place at the  school this year.

On Tuesday, the Newtown Board of Education approved  bringing the
Newtown Police K-9 unit to the high school  to sniff for drugs in
lockers and vehicles on school  property.

According to board member Andrew Buzzi, the goal to  protect students'
rights while meeting the board's  responsibility to provide a safe
school environment."We  want to teach students that they should never
be  subjected to unlawful search and seizure, and stress  that we
respect the law," Buzzi said.

Newtown Police Officer Andy Stinson handles the police  dog, Barro,
who has been trained to detect illegal  substances, including
marijuana, cocaine, heroin and  crack cocaine. Stinson will decide if
the dog is  alerting him to drugs and will initiate searches.

Searches will be conducted while students and staff are  in
classrooms. Authorized staff members will be  stationed at each end of
a hallway of lockers being  sniffed to ensure that no student wanders
into the area  during the search. No more than two police officers
will participate in a canine search, and administrators  will be
present for all searches.

Students whose lockers or vehicles are to be searched  will be asked
to witness and cooperate in the search.  If drugs are found, the
matter will be turned over to  Newtown police and the student's
parents or guardians  will be notified."I think the policy provides us
with  yet another tool in the fight against drugs," said Evan
Pitkoff, superintendent of schools. "At the same time,  it reflects
our respect for students and their rights."

Eight parents and residents attending Tuesday's Board  of Education
meeting spoke resoundingly in support of  bringing the K-9 unit to the
school, while one was  opposed. "That school has a lot of drugs in it,
and I  don't think having a dog there will traumatize any  child,"
said Barbara Bouton. "What will traumatize a  child is getting
involved with the wrong person and  becoming addicted to drugs."

Parent Chuck Stofko agreed.

"I know three families that have daughters addicted to  heroin who are
in rehab right now," Stofko said. "I  have three daughters of my own.
The oldest will be in  sixth grade this year and the thought of her
coming  into an environment where drugs are available scares  me."

Stofko noted a student who "knows that a police dog  will be in the
school sniffing lockers and still has  heroin in his or her locker is
a child in trouble." He  said it is the responsibility of adults in
the  community to "pay attention" and provide help.

But for parent Tracy Fiore, there is reason for  concern. Fiore was
angry the decision to bring the dog  into the school was made at a
summer school board  meeting while she and other parents were out of
town.

"I'm disturbed that it has gotten to the point where  the behavior of
a few kids has dictated how we will  treat all kids," Fiore told the
board.

The decision was reached after lengthy deliberation by  the board at
its July meeting. Numerous parents told  the board drugs are readily
available at the high  school.

Dorrie Carolan of Parent Connection, a grassroots  parents group,
noted when the group first started  working with youths with drug
problems their ages were  19, 20 and 21. Now the children are as young
as 14.

"There are kids 15 and 16 years old using heroin in  Newtown," Carolan
said Tuesday. "There are 12 kids we  know of in rehab at this time"
for heroin addiction.

An initial search of all lockers at Newtown High School  will be done
after the maintenance staff has cleaned  them before school starts.
This, Pitkoff said, should  ensure no "false positive" alerts for
drugs in a  locker."We will have a search sometime after school
starts," Pitkoff said. "If we find no alerts, we will  do these
searches less frequently than if we do find  alerts."

Searches will continue periodically throughout the  school year.
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MAP posted-by: Derek