Schools plan to release the hounds
Published on May 29th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The School Committee grappled with the issue of drugs in school last week just as it has over recent months in an effort to keep Stoneham schools safe and drug-free.
On Thursday, Stoneham High School Principal Tom Ryan and Stoneham Police Officer Robert Kennedy reported on the what they have found out about the practice of bringing drug-sniffing dogs into schools.
Ryan said that while some of the school districts he contacted recently about this practice do canine searches periodically, most do not have an explicit policy stating so in their student handbooks. If Stoneham were to enact such a practice, Ryan said it should not be a surprise to students. Rather, the policy of random searches should be placed prominently in the student handbook.
The reason for this, he said, is that if a random search yielded positive results regarding the presence of drugs in students’ lockers, the handling of such a case could be in dispute unless a policy exists.
Among communities Ryan spoke to, Watertown, Woburn and Mashpee have conducted such searches; Melrose, Winchester and Burlington are considering it; and neither Reading nor Wakefield are interested at this point in doing so.
According to Officer Kennedy, such searches would be conducted when students are in classes with classroom doors closed. Students would have no contact with the dogs. The aim would be for little or no disruption to the school day.
If anything illegal or questionable is found, the matter would be handed over to the school administration.
“From the police point of view, we’re here just assisting the school system to ensure a drug-free zone,” Kennedy said.
“We’re not in a position now, nor do we want to be, to criminally prosecute these kids,” he added. However, Ryan would reserve the right to turn over any case to the police.
When to prosecute would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Ryan said.
Ryan advised that the Education Reform Act of 1993 outlines circumstances for expelling students from school, and although he has been forced to expel students in the past, he said he always tries to be reasonable.
“All confiscated material is given to the Police Department. Then, we have a discussion about this person’s life, our life and the situation presented,” Ryan said.
An extension of this practice could lead to searching cars in the school parking lot.
“I don’t want (drugs) anywhere on school property...I have no problem including the parking lot and automobiles,” said Committee member David Sheils.
But Ryan opposed this, stating that to extend the practice this way then involves privacy issues. Students’ lockers are owned by the school, cars are not.
An alternative to this then might be to increase surveillance of the parking lot, Committee chairman Daniel Moynihan suggested.
School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly said that the purpose of random checks by canine units would be to deter the practice of bringing drugs into schools. If the School Committee votes to adopt the practice at Stoneham High School, Connelly said he would recommend that the searches be conducted at the Middle School too.
Committee member Cheryl Walsh advised that Melrose High School held an assembly for students explaining canine searches that that school district might adopt. The purpose of this, she said, was to provide an understanding of the purpose and procedure of the searches, as well as to act as a deterrent to students from considering bringing drugs to school.
No action was taken on Thursday, but Ryan was asked to draw up policy language for the Committee to vote on in July.
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