DRUG PLAN DRAWS OPPOSITION

LOUISVILLE — Students and district officials aren't convinced a Monarch
High School parent proposal to allow drug-sniffing dogs in schools is a
good way to address concerns about student drug use.

The main issue is if the results would be worth violating student privacy
and trust.

"The intrusion of drug-sniffing dogs in our public schools would probably
far outweigh the minimum law enforcement benefit it might provide," said
Boulder Valley School Board President Stan Garnett. "I'm anxious to hear
what the community thinks, but I doubt they would be wild about it."

Monarch sophomore Kathleen Wickes predicted students "would get really mad"
if police brought in dogs to search lockers and questioned the
effectiveness of that kind of search.

"There's a lot of people who do drugs, but they wouldn't find any drugs
here," she said.

Another concern is that searches during the school day could prove disruptive.

"It would be distracting," said sophomore Josh Usrey. "I don't think it
would help anything."

A small group of Monarch High parents plans to petition the school board to
allow dogs to search lockers in school hallways. The idea came out of a
meeting between parents and Louisville police on drug problems in the wake
of the ecstasy-related death of former Monarch student Brittney Chambers.

Parents and school resource officers said random searches by dogs could
show if a problem exists and help keep drugs out of schools.

"It's a tool," said Niwot High School resource officer Russ Nanney, who
noted the pressure on police to show the public they're doing everything
they can to keep schools safe. "It gives the school and law enforcement a
better idea of what's going on."

Several Monarch students said dog searches aren't a problem because
students who don't use drugs don't need to worry.

"I wouldn't really care," said freshman Brian Tyler. "I wouldn't have
anything to hide."

Sophomore Danyul Jackson said drug-sniffing dogs are "a great idea."

"Drugs are obviously a problem in the school," he said. "It's not as big a
problem as some people think, but it's not as small a problem as the school
thinks. It would be good to get the drugs out of the school."

Neither Boulder Valley nor St. Vrain Valley school district officials could
recall a time when local schools used dogs to search lockers.

Both districts, however, have seen demonstrations from local police
departments on the dogs' capabilities.

"We had some serious discussion about it," said Jack Hay, St. Vrain's
assistant superintendent for learning services. "We decided it's more of a
public relations move than a real deterrent to drugs."

Fairview High School Principal Dean Palmer said the drug-sniffing dog
searches at the Colorado Springs high school where he worked before
Fairview didn't uncover any drugs.

"At one time, we were on a monthly basis with the searches," he said. "I
never found anything."

He said the searches send a message to students that, "You don't trust me.
This is to catch me doing something wrong.

"I would just as soon spend time catching kids doing things right," he
said. "When trust is a very valued part of the school, something drastic
would have to happen to break that trust. If someone just showed up with a
dog at Fairview, I would have 1,960 angry teenagers."

Monarch principal Bill Johnson said that when he allowed dog drug searches
at high schools he worked at outside of Boulder County, no drugs were ever
found at those schools either.

"I'm neutral on the issue," he said. "It's more of a higher level decision
of the philosophy of the approach."

Current Boulder Valley policy allows for searches of student cars on school
property, lockers, backpacks and the students themselves if there's a
reasonable suspicion.

Joe Sleeper, Boulder Valley's secondary education director, said random
searches by dogs would be a "significant intrusion" and would require
approval from the school board.

Along with Garnett, at least two other Boulder Valley school board members
aren't convinced drug-sniffing dogs belong in schools.

"It would cast guilt on the whole student body," said school board member
Teresa Steele. "It would give an appearance to students that it's not a
safe environment."

Board member Bill De La Cruz called the dog plan "reactionary."

"We don't need to alienate our kids more than we already have," he said.
"We really need to put our energy into working with the community on this
issue."

Camera staff writer Coulter Bump contributed to this story.