BREATH TESTS AT PROM UPSET SOME

Students Contact ACLU For Advice On New Policy At School Dance

SOMERSET, R.I. -- Some teachers, counselors and students plan to skip
the prom tonight because they say a breath-test policy is wrong and
unlawful. For the first time, students and chaperones will have to
take the alcohol breath tests to enter and exit the senior prom.

But William Aguiar, a guidance counselor and prom chaperone for the
past 15 years, said "no" this time around.

Although he doesn't drink at all during the prom, Aguiar said he has a
practical objection. "I'm there to chaperone the kids, but I'm subject
to the same rules. The fact of the matter is we're not equals."

Aguiar also has a more philosophical concern. "For the last 15 years I
haven't changed," he said. "I'm still a responsible chaperone. Taking
the breath test or not taking the breath test doesn't make me a
responsible adult. It doesn't make me a role model."

Another chaperone also opted out of the prom this year.

Aguiar said that the faculty advisory council is working to reverse
the decision requiring chaperons to take breath tests but that would
not take effect until next year.

Justin Kenney, a senior who will attend the University of Vermont in
the fall, said he'll skip the prom for his own party that night --
without a breath test, he added.

"We feel it's an infringement of our laws," he said, adding that he
doesn't drink, nor does he encourage his peers to do so.

The reason for his stand, he said, is "I don't want to go in there and
take it. It's against my integrity."

Kenney, brother of school committee member Jason Kenney who also
opposes the policy, is one of a handful of students who called the
American Civil Liberties Union for advice.

An ACLU spokesman said the organization considers the breath tests a
violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against
unlawful searches.

Opponents of the policy argue that the violation arises when school
officials force everyone to take the tests -- not just those who are
behaving suspiciously.

Principal Donald Rebello said school staff at 10 stations will test
everyone quickly and discreetly. Parents of the students who fail the
test will be called to take them home.

Rebello and the school advisory council first voted to implement the
policy last March to "maintain decorum," Rebello said. Chaperones have
suspected that alcohol caused a student's unruly behavior in a handful
of instances through the years.

Rebello and most members of the School Committee, which voted in the
program last month, maintain that the program aims to prevent drinking
and driving tragedies.

Adults who oppose the breath-test policy say students have to be
trusted not to drink; that chaperones are of legal drinking age and
requiring them to take the tests sends the wrong message.