Pubdate: Sat, 07 Apr 2007
Source: Burlington County Times (NJ)
Copyright: 2007 Calkins Newspapers. Inc.
Contact: http://www.phillyburbs.com/feedback/content_bct.shtml
Website: http://www.phillyburbs.com/burlingtoncountytimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2128
Author: Danielle Camilli, staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

MOORESTOWN'S SCHOOL COMMUNITY DEALS WITH REALITY OF DRUG PROBLEMS

MOORESTOWN -- No drugs were found during a police sweep  of Moorestown
High School last week, but administrators  said later they know they
need to remain vigilant.

Interim Superintendent Timothy Brennan and other  district officials
reviewed recent problems at the  school with parents during a Board of
Education meeting  Wednesday, a day after the unannounced sweep of the
 school campus on Bridgeboro Road.

Parents expressed a variety of reactions to the search  by police and
nearly a dozen K-9 units for drugs,  weapons and other contraband. The
students were held in  homeroom classes for more than two hours during
sweep.

"The first thing is, can you explain why? It makes it  feel like ...
is the high school rampant with drugs?"  asked parent Kathleen Pennsi.
"It seems like a very  extreme, major thing."

Brennan said the sweep was planned in December in  response to growing
concern about substance abuse and  drug distribution on campus.

He said the substance abuse issue was brought to his  attention almost
immediately last August when he  arrived to temporarily fill the
superintendent's post.  At the time, interim high school Principal
David Yates,  who is no longer with the district, expressed concern 
about reports of drinking at football games.

Yates and Brennan investigated in October and found  students
intoxicated at the games, the superintendent  said.

A month later, Brennan said, he heard rumors of drugs  being sold at
the high school.

In December, four female students were arrested when  they were found
to be in possession of what Brennan  then described as "significant
amounts of cocaine,  amphetamines and other drugs. The students were
charged  with possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia."

During Wednesday's board meeting, Brennan said the  girls had
customized cocaine kits that appeared ready  for sale.

"They were not hidden," he said. "It appeared as though  the kids
thought they could just get away with it."

The administrative team met after the arrests and,  despite Brennan's
hesitation, voted 9-1 to support an  unannounced sweep of the campus.

"They were adamant about bringing the dogs in," said  Brennan, who
cast the lone no vote.

He said that while he saw the value of bringing the  dogs into the
school, he preferred a plan to sweep the  building when students were
away for winter break, take  note of areas where the dogs responded to
residue, and  then watch those areas for suspicious activity.

He said the students know to carry illegal substances  with them
because the dogs are not searching  individuals.

The sweep originally was scheduled for early February,  but was
delayed when law enforcement officials asked  for more information and
time to review the plan.

Last month, however, another incident rocked the school 
community.

Officials found what appeared to be a business ledger  that included
"names and (drug) preferences," officials  said.

The ledger was found along with a list of weapons and a  diagram of
school offices when two students were taken  to the high school office
after a fight.

Brennan said the fight appeared to be "the aftermath of  a deal gone
sour."

Officials put the high school into lockdown status  while officers
investigated whether there was any  threat to the building or
students. No one was injured  and no actual drugs or weapons were found.

The matter was turned over to the Moorestown Police  Department. One
of the students, a 16-year-old, was  arrested and charged with making
terroristic threats.

Brennan said officials are still trying to determine  whether the
ledger is real or "complete fiction."

Later that same week, the board approved an updated and  tougher
substance abuse policy it had been working on  for about two years.

Last Tuesday, the Police Department notified the  district it was
ready for the sweep and, shortly after  the school day began, officers
converged on the  building, searching vehicles and lockers.

Brennan said officials were pleased that no drugs,  weapons or other
contraband were found, but they remain  realistic. He said some
students told him other  teenagers in the building moved drugs from
their purses  or book bags to their bodies, knowing they would not be 
searched.

"There is no way, unless we invade the privacy of  students, to
institutionally solve the drug problem. We  can only drive them out of
the school," Brennan said.

He added that even if officials can get the product out  of the
building, it seems as if the transactions are  still occurring inside
the school.

Board President Donald Mishler, responding to a  question about what
has changed in the district's fight  against substance abuse, said
there has never been a  distribution problem in the high school before.

"We don't want to see it get any closer," he said.

Administrators said the sweep was successful in terms  of developing
information about areas in the school  that need more
supervision.

Parent Nancy Hendrickson said she wasn't convinced the  district
needed to use what she called "sledgehammer  tactics" to deal with
students and asked why teachers  weren't informed of Tuesday's sweep.

Brennan said the district didn't know it would  definitely happen
until a few minutes before it began.  The board did not know either,
Mishler said.

Another parent applauded the district's efforts.

"Ninety percent are good kids, but there are drugs in  this school ...
I'll take this over Columbine," she  said, referring to the deaths of
12 students at the  hands of two armed classmates in Colorado in 1999.

"The real problem I have is "drug sweep' and "lockdown'  are prison
terms, not school terms," said parent Jack  Shaloo. "Maybe we can be
more positive and proactive  and use those times for drug awareness
training."

Disrtict officials said substance-abuse awareness is  part of the high
school curriculum.
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