SCHOOL BOARD OKS DRUG DOG

Police K-9 Unit Will Assist In Random Drug Searches At Newtown High
This Year

NEWTOWN - Before school starts Aug. 29, Newtown High School students
and parents will receive letters stating random drug searches will
take place at the school this year.

On Tuesday, the Newtown Board of Education approved bringing the
Newtown Police K-9 unit to the high school to sniff for drugs in
lockers and vehicles on school property.

According to board member Andrew Buzzi, the goal to protect students'
rights while meeting the board's responsibility to provide a safe
school environment."We want to teach students that they should never
be subjected to unlawful search and seizure, and stress that we
respect the law," Buzzi said.

Newtown Police Officer Andy Stinson handles the police dog, Barro,
who has been trained to detect illegal substances, including
marijuana, cocaine, heroin and crack cocaine. Stinson will decide if
the dog is alerting him to drugs and will initiate searches.

Searches will be conducted while students and staff are in
classrooms. Authorized staff members will be stationed at each end of
a hallway of lockers being sniffed to ensure that no student wanders
into the area during the search. No more than two police officers
will participate in a canine search, and administrators will be
present for all searches.

Students whose lockers or vehicles are to be searched will be asked
to witness and cooperate in the search. If drugs are found, the
matter will be turned over to Newtown police and the student's
parents or guardians will be notified."I think the policy provides us
with yet another tool in the fight against drugs," said Evan
Pitkoff, superintendent of schools. "At the same time, it reflects
our respect for students and their rights."

Eight parents and residents attending Tuesday's Board of Education
meeting spoke resoundingly in support of bringing the K-9 unit to the
school, while one was opposed. "That school has a lot of drugs in it,
and I don't think having a dog there will traumatize any child,"
said Barbara Bouton. "What will traumatize a child is getting
involved with the wrong person and becoming addicted to drugs."

Parent Chuck Stofko agreed.

"I know three families that have daughters addicted to heroin who are
in rehab right now," Stofko said. "I have three daughters of my own.
The oldest will be in sixth grade this year and the thought of her
coming into an environment where drugs are available scares me."

Stofko noted a student who "knows that a police dog will be in the
school sniffing lockers and still has heroin in his or her locker is
a child in trouble." He said it is the responsibility of adults in
the community to "pay attention" and provide help.

But for parent Tracy Fiore, there is reason for concern. Fiore was
angry the decision to bring the dog into the school was made at a
summer school board meeting while she and other parents were out of
town.

"I'm disturbed that it has gotten to the point where the behavior of
a few kids has dictated how we will treat all kids," Fiore told the
board.

The decision was reached after lengthy deliberation by the board at
its July meeting. Numerous parents told the board drugs are readily
available at the high school.

Dorrie Carolan of Parent Connection, a grassroots parents group,
noted when the group first started working with youths with drug
problems their ages were 19, 20 and 21. Now the children are as young
as 14.

"There are kids 15 and 16 years old using heroin in Newtown," Carolan
said Tuesday. "There are 12 kids we know of in rehab at this time"
for heroin addiction.

An initial search of all lockers at Newtown High School will be done
after the maintenance staff has cleaned them before school starts.
This, Pitkoff said, should ensure no "false positive" alerts for
drugs in a locker."We will have a search sometime after school
starts," Pitkoff said. "If we find no alerts, we will do these
searches less frequently than if we do find alerts."

Searches will continue periodically throughout the school year.