Pubdate: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO) Copyright: 2008 The Star-Journal Publishing Corp. Contact: http://www.chieftain.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613 Author: John Norton Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) SCHOOL DISTRICT CONSIDERING DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS Facing a growing problem of teenage drug and alcohol use, Pueblo City Schools administrators want a tough new policy that would include random drug testing and searches. At a work session with the board of education Thursday afternoon, a number of local officials joined in a discussion of the problem as the board gets ready to revise its current rules and procedures. The school district's policy is more than a decade old, explained Terri Martinez-McGraw, director of student intervention services. Bev Samek, director of coordinated school health education, explained that there had been health education throughout grade levels until 2000 when Colorado Student Assessment Program tests and emphasis on reading eliminated it in the lower grades. One semester of health is required for graduation, Samek said, but the quality is "scattered." "Some schools do a great job with it and other schools have totally lost focus," she said. Samek said that health education must be part of the daily curriculum alongside reading, writing and math. Board member Kathy DeNiro said that the individual schools and teachers need to be involved. "If you're talking about mandatory consequences then you have to have mandatory procedures to help," DeNiro said. The policy addresses "non-alcoholic" beers and products with labels for alcohol products. Questions about high caffeine drinks came up but Martinez-McGraw said those weren't addressed. Bobby Gonzales, principal at Central High School, said the high caffeine drinks were a problem. At this year's Knowledge Bowl competition, Gonzales said, another school's team members were consuming energy drinks "and those kids (were) flipping out." Board member Shawn Yoxey added that such drinks were tied to "pharming" parties where teenagers would consume handfuls of pills, washed down by caffeinated drinks. Samek said drug and alcohol problems were a community concern and not just the schools and that was why other agencies have been asked to work as partners. Martinez-McGraw said that agencies such as Catholic Charities already have provided free counseling for students with drug, alcohol and mental health problems. The question of searches drew some attention, too. Martinez-McGraw said searches would not be intrusive and would take into consideration the age and gender of the students. District Attorney Bill Thiebaut agreed that there was a problem with drugs and alcohol and that 80 percent of his cases are tied to abuse issues. However, Thiebaut cautioned the board that there were different standards for administrative functions and criminal law. "Just because you're doing something doesn't mean we're going to do something," he said. Superintendent John Covington said that drug testing was "not an 'I gotcha kind of thing.' It's to find the students who are using drugs and get them help." Bringing in drug-sniffing dogs, however, would be different and the district would ask for arrests and prosecution. Deputy Police Chief John Ercul echoed Thiebaut's concerns, saying that the department has a very good dog, but "we want to be sure when we use that canine we're on solid ground." Board member Dan Comden asked whether it would take a warrant to open a locker, but Yoxey, who is an attorney, pointed out that the lockers are the property of the school and not the student. However, she added, the backpack inside the locker is a different matter and the district needs to establish where its authority lies. Thiebaut also urged the district to consider the effect of excluding students from extracurricular activities when it's been shown that those activities can discourage drug and alcohol use. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom