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.