Pubdate: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 Source: Hartford Courant (CT) Copyright: 2008 The Hartford Courant Contact: http://www.courant.com/about/custom/thc/thc-letters,0,86431.customform Website: http://www.courant.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183 Author: Vanessa De La Torre Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) CANTON SCHOOLS' DRUG SWEEP IN JUNE STILL REVERBERATES CANTON - - Kelsey Jones, a fixture on the Canton High School honor roll, was in pre-calculus the morning a police dog sniffed her locker for drugs. A voice over the public-address system had ordered students and staffers to stay in their classrooms. Teachers were told in an e-mail from Principal Gary Gula that police K-9 units were on school grounds for a drug sweep authorized by the school board and superintendent. "Please do NOT discuss this with your students," Gula stressed. Jones, 18, then a senior, learned of the search after being escorted from her class and brought face to face with several police officers standing around her locker. One of them kept a hand on his gun. "Everyone in the cafeteria was looking," Jones said. One officer "went through every single book. ... It was a really violating feeling." The June 5 sweep at Canton Middle and Canton High schools took less than two hours and resulted in one arrest, yet the repercussions are still being felt in this small Farmington Valley town. Some parents have lashed out at the district and police, criticizing the sweep as ineffective and disruptive. The school board has agreed to reassess its search policy, and a review committee is to meet today.School officials, however, steadfastly defend the tactic. "We don't think our drug issue is different than any other town," school board Chairman Lou Daniels said, "but we're not naive enough to think we don't have one." On the morning of the sweep, police dogs alerted handlers to three cars in the parking lot and six lockers. Neighboring lockers also were searched. Of more than 15 students taken out of class to watch officers comb through their belongings, one was found with a small amount of marijuana - Jessica Mola, the senior class president. Police seized the marijuana (a few stems and seeds, according to Mola's mother) from a sunglass case inside Mola's Jeep Wrangler, which has a Grateful Dead tire cover. Police issued her a summons to appear in community court on a possession charge. School officials suspended her for 10 days and barred her from the senior prom, which Mola helped plan. When Mola came home that afternoon, her mother, Vicki Ochenrider, said the 17-year-old took an overdose of pain medication and needed emergency treatment. "They paraded her into the school, surrounded by police officers, escorted her to her classroom to get her pocketbook and brought her back to the main office," Ochenrider said. "Her mind-set was one of utter humiliation. And fear." The misdemeanor charge is to be cleared from Mola's record once she completes community service. Police Chief Lowell Humphrey declined to comment specifically about the sweep except to say that Mola's case had been settled in court, and "I truly hope the individual involved is receiving positive direction and support." But for Jones, there is lingering indignation. One officer, she said, questioned her about "residue" in an empty water bottle in her locker. It was orange juice. "It didn't even scare kids," Jones said of the sweep. She and other students say students who were known to use or sell drugs generally kept them in their pockets and backpacks. "All this did was say, 'Don't put it in your locker; don't put it in your car,'" said Jones, now a freshman at the University of North Carolina School of Arts. "The kids who did drugs laughed at it." 'Gestapo Technique' Southington, Enfield, Coventry, Portland, Windsor Locks and Vernon are among the school districts that allow police dogs to search for illegal substances. Windsor Locks Superintendent Gregory Little said he has authorized three sweeps during the past year and a half, yielding one arrest and zero "negative reaction from the parents," perhaps because they were well informed about the policy through letters and televised school board meetings before the sweeps started in March 2007, Little said. Canton's policy has been in place since 2001, but June 5 was the first time Canton Middle and Canton High schools were locked down to allow a sweep during classes. Superintendent Kevin D. Case said no specific threat triggered the search. In the past two years, Case said, "We had a couple of expulsions of students due to possession of illegal substances. So that was one reason why the board of education decided to bring in the sniffer dogs - because we want to make sure we don't have a problem." Daniels said the district's search policy is "one tool in a toolbox" that includes using Breathalyzers at school dances and working with Canton's Community of Concern chapter, which educates families about alcohol, drugs and smoking. "I feel comfortable that we did the right thing," Daniels said. Elisa L. Villa, a parent of a Canton High sophomore and a public defender in Bristol, sharply disagreed and compared such searches to a "Gestapo technique" that ostracizes kids who may need help. "Do you treat children and students as aspiring criminals, or do you treat them with respect?" said Villa, who organized a community meeting after the sweep and has called on the school board to defer to health and education experts when re-examining its search policy. The board's policy committee is expected to make a recommendation on K-9 sweeps by January. The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut has been monitoring the Canton situation because the organization believes random drug sweeps violate people's rights, Executive Director Andrew Schneider said. Nationally, however, courts have tended to favor schools in challenges to drug searches, said Richard Kay, a constitutional law professor at the University of Connecticut. "The Supreme Court has given school districts pretty wide berth," he said. Little To Do Within days of the sweep, some of Jessica Mola's friends wore "Free Jessi" T-shirts to school, and the worried father of one girl whose locker was searched insisted that she take a home drug test. Some students, including junior Michael Cahill, said they were surprised that only Mola was caught. "We are rural, suburban, kind of a wealthy area with nothing to do," said Cahill, a member of Canton High's ESTEEM group, which talks to fifth-graders about avoiding drugs and alcohol. "You go out on weekends and party and stuff." Mola also was in ESTEEM. She was allowed to speak at graduation as senior class president and is now a freshman at Pace University. Her mother, Ochenrider, said she is talking about the arrest because she wants the district to abandon its search policy and what she considers the heavy-handed tactics of the police after seeing the toll they took on her daughter. "I could have lost my kid. Because of stems and seeds," Ochenrider said. "In the bigger picture of life, it's not worth that. ... But the law is the law. Jessica took her licks, went through the process and paid her dues, like anyone else in America. But the emotional impact is something I can't get over." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin