RED HOOK PARENTS SEEK DRUG TASK FORCE

Dress Code Also Proposed

A group of parents wants a task force formed to address drug use at Red
Hook High School.

The idea stemmed from the results of a survey conducted by students in the
high school's contemporary social problems class. The subject was recently
discussed at a Parent Teacher Student Association meeting.

A total of 504 students, or 71 percent, of the school population responded
to the survey, which asked questions about what types of drugs students are
using and how frequently they are using them. Though it was an anonymous
survey, students were asked to provide their grade level, age and gender.

A Concern Everywhere

While teacher Jeff Kaiser declined to release specific findings, he said
numbers were "not surprising."

Similar surveys were done in 1990 and 1996, high school Principal Roy
Paisley said.

Though he hadn't had a chance to compare the numbers yet, Paisley said he
thinks drug use "is a problem in every high school."

In a letter to the school board requesting the task force, Kaiser and PTSA
President Venus Mosher said students have asked for help. "They are tired
of having to deal with smoke filled bathrooms and do not feel that the
current disciplinary actions or repercussions are effective," the letter says.

The current penalties range from a three-day suspension for tobacco use to
up to a year's expulsion for marijuana, Paisley said.

This year, a number of students were caught with possession of marijuana
and were suspended for the remainder of the year, he said.

The school resource officer has been valuable in helping with the problem,
Paisley said. The school also is trying to give students more to do,
beginning a new program which offers activities on Wednesday night.

Kaiser said there are a "good group of seniors" working on the project.
"They're concerned about it. They want to improve the situation," he said.

"It's a step in the right direction," Kaiser said.

The other item of concern to parents was dress and conduct at Linden Avenue
Middle School dances.

The overall atmosphere at the dances, fund-raisers for the eighth-grade
field trip, is not appropriate, said PTSA President Venus Mosher.

Rap music with vulgar lyrics is being played, and students are dressing
inappropriately in tank tops and low-cut shirts, she said. "Just because
they see it on MTV doesn't mean it's acceptable," Mosher said.

An average of eight chaperones supervise the dances, which are attended by
between 175 and 350 students.

Mosher said she and other parents would like to see specific guidelines for
the dances, including a dress code that is enforced.