DRUG SEARCH SUSPENDED AT ROBESON SCHOOL

LUMBERTON - Robeson County deputies were ordered off the Magnolia
Elementary School campus last week after lawmen began a drug search at
the school. The search, authorized by the school's assistant
principal, took place after drugs were found at the school.

Investigators also are looking into whether a 13-year-old boy was
drugged, possibly with Ecstasy. The boy became ill after eating some
candy at the school Feb. 13, said Lt. Kathy Torre with the Sheriff's
Office Juvenile Division. Investigators have not determined whether
the student had Ecstasy in his system.

The search was prompted by drug incidents that have occurred at the
school and the possible drugging of the student, Torre said. A week
prior to the student becoming ill, marijuana and pills were found in a
container at the school. In a separate incident in January, a
marijuana cigarette was found in the boy's bathroom. There also have
been incidents where students have shown up on campus under the
influence, Torre said. Magnolia Elementary School is a kindergarten
through eighth-grade school. A deputy and a detective with the
Juvenile Division were conducting the sweep Feb. 25. About 20 minutes
after they started, the lawmen were told they would have to remove
their drug-sniffing dog from the campus, Torre said. "The principal
started sending the kids back inside the school," Torre said. "We were
kind of puzzled. He said that he got a call and told us that that dog
had to be off campus. We were trying to take steps, during our
investigation, to warn the students about what would happen if they
participate in any type of crime. We have sent school resource
officers out. The last part was the use of the dog. There is a problem
out there." School officials ordered the dog removed because the
principal and assistant principal did not follow protocol, said Al
Kahn, a spokesman for the school system. The Central Office was not
notified that the dog would be on campus. "It is not a written policy,
but they all supposedly know they are not to do certain things whether
it is written or not," Kahn said. "And this is one of those things."
There were also concerns about the more than 800 students being out in
the cold during the search, Kahn said.

Sheriff Kenneth Sealey said he plans to meet with Superintendent
Johnny Hunt. "We are going to do what we can to help the principal and
the school board," Sealey said.

"We know that they have policies and procedures that they have to
follow. We are trying to find out what happened and whether it was
followed." Drug in candy?

The 13-year-old boy who became ill appeared as if he was under the
influence of a drug when he was at the school Feb.

13, according to a Sheriff's Office report. He was picked up from
school and taken to his grandparents' home.

He was later taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center.
Investigators were notified about the incident by 911 dispatchers.
They met the mother at the hospital, Torre said.

"The mother said her son had eaten some candy and that he thought that
something was in the candy," Torre said. "He started feeling
differently after he ate the candy. Then he started getting sick."
Toxicology tests done on the boy the day he was admitted to the
hospital came back negative, Torre said.

"Other tests could have been done following that, but we have not seen
them," she said.

The school resource officer talked with several students who described
pills that have been passed around the school, Torre said. The deputy
spoke with a pharmacist who said the description of the drug sounded
like Ecstasy, she said. "We are just trying to beef things up and help
the principal get things under control," Torre said. "We want to find
out who is responsible for bringing the drugs on campus."