DRUG DOGS WOULD SNIFF SCHOOLS UNDER PLAN

Support For Proposal In Elmbrook District Is Far From Unanimous

Dogs could be used to sniff out drugs in Elmbrook high school
students' lockers and cars under a proposed policy that has pitted
district administrators and local police against some students and at
least one School Board member.

And one principal, Ted Carlsen of Brookfield East High School, said
that while he generally supports having such a policy on the books, he
wouldn't want to see drug-sniffing dogs used on a regular basis.

"I feel it would be more destructive to student morale at the current
time," Carlsen said. "My feeling is that if you do something like this
- -- which I consider a rather Draconian measure -- that there better be
clear evidence that you have problem that justifies it."

But Superintendent Matthew Gibson, who recommended the canine-aided
search policy to the School Board this week, said officials should use
any legal and acceptable means to ensure schools truly are places
where drugs are not bought and sold.

"We tell people our schools are safe, but we're not sure they're safe
with respect to drugs," Gibson said.

The policy, similar to those being used increasingly in districts
around the state, has the backing of the police chiefs in both
Brookfield and Elm Grove, which make up the Elmbrook district.

Nonetheless, support for the policy that would allow dogs to seek the
scent of marijuana and other drugs in hallways and parking lots is far
from unanimous.

"I think it goes way beyond intrusive," School Board member Steve
Schwei said. "I think this undermines the trust that we try to build
with students. I think right now we largely have a respectful,
cooperative atmosphere in our schools, and I think this introduces an
element of suspicion where perhaps it's not warranted."

And other board members have expressed some reservations about how the
policy would be used.

Some students at Brookfield Central High School, whose principal,
James Briscoe, has been the main proponent of the search policy, agree
that it would hurt morale.

"If they actually do something like that, I don't think they trust us
at all," said Ryan Hurab, a 17-year-old junior.

Tiffany Rogers, an 18-year-old senior, said drug-sniffing dogs would
be an unnecessary "distraction," even if officials conduct the
searches discreetly while students are in class.

Freshman Shelby Williams, 14, said perhaps canine searches should be
limited to students who have been caught with drugs in the past.

Senior Seth Jamieson, 18, wondered whether such an effort would even
be worthwhile.

"It's not that big of a problem," he said. "Most of the kids who do
drugs aren't stupid enough to bring them to school."

But Briscoe, who used dog searches three or four times a year at a
public high school in Illinois before coming to Central, said "the
reality is we have students in our school that are experimenting with
drugs."

"And it is possible -- and it's possible in any school -- that there
are transactions being made between students at school or on school
grounds," he said.

Briscoe said he suspected marijuana was even more prevalent than
underage drinking because marijuana is easier for teens to obtain than
alcohol.

"I think (drug-sniffing dogs are) something you use to let kids know
you're not going to tolerate drugs being on campus," Briscoe said.
"It's a message. . . . It's important to me as a building principal
that that message is real loud and clear."

Carlsen, Briscoe's colleague, said such a policy should be used
sparingly.

"I have absolutely no intention of using it or using the dogs at this
time and place," Carlsen said. "I don't feel we have a problem that is
at that level that it would warrant doing it."

Diane Foley, co-president of the East High School PTO, also had mixed
feelings about the policy.

"I'd like to look at this a little further," Foley said. "I can
understand the needs and the concerns of the school district, but as a
parent, I do worry about and think there are student rights we have to
be concerned with, too."

The issue of drug-sniffing dogs was discussed in a Brookfield
community meeting last month that included about 80 people, including
school administrators, parents, police and others interested in the
matter. A majority at the meeting favored the new measure, according
to the minutes of the meeting.

The Elmbrook School Board is expected to vote March 23 on revising its
search policy to allow for drug-sniffing dogs. Officials and board
members said guidelines on how it would be used then would be worked
out with more input from community members.

"The point here is to be preventive," Gibson said. "I think the point
isn't to try and necessarily catch people. You'd like to be preventive
so the drugs aren't there to be found."

Elmbrook wouldn't be the only Waukesha County school district to use
drug-sniffing dogs.

Capt. Richard Piagentini of the Waukesha Police Department said the
department's canine unit has made checks at all three Waukesha high
schools and at some of the district's three middle schools.

"Rather than wait and arrest someone when you find the drugs," the
schools and police department use the drug-sniffing dogs "to send a
message: 'Hey, don't have drugs here,' " Piagentini said.

"Anything you can do to set the tone helps," Piagentini
said.

Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.