HEMPFIELD AREA TASK FORCE TRIES TO ROOT OUT SCHOOL DRUG
PROBLEM

The father of a Hempfield Area High School student told a newly
formed drug task force Monday of the ease with which his daughter was
able to acquire drugs at school.

"My daughter's telling me how easy it is to go into a classroom and
crush up a pill," the parent said during the first meeting of the
district's Drug Awareness and Prevention Committee, which drew two
dozen parents and community members.

After the meeting, the man said that his oldest daughter is in a drug
rehabilitation program after a year of using OxyContin that she
purchased at school.

"She came to us and said she needed the help," he said. "She told us
how available it is. It's almost like when you were a child and you
wanted penny candy."

He urged the district to work harder to fight the drug
problem.

"I'm supposed to pay my taxes and send my daughter here to be safe,"
he said.

The committee, which included several school directors,
Superintendent Terry Foriska and Assistant Superintendent Andrew
Leopold, was formed after the district expelled 15 students for
drug-related offenses this year.

"I think you all will agree that this is one of the biggest safety
issues," said school Director Randy Stoner, who chaired the panel.

Stoner said the committee would meet monthly, with the goal of
increasing awareness of drugs and their consequences and improving
Hempfield's ability to prevent drug abuse in schools.

"I've talked to a lot of students," Stoner said. "Students don't want
to be around drugs. They want to come to a safe, happy place in the
daytime."

The drug committee's formation was prompted by the December expulsion
of seven students who allegedly brought drugs to school with the
intention of selling them at the Central Westmoreland Career and
Technology Center, a vocational school attended by students from
Hempfield and several other districts.

At the January board meeting, Director Sonya Brajdic said that one of
the students had taken some of the drugs and had to be hospitalized.
Blood tests showed that the student had taken Suboxone, which is used
to help wean addicts off heroin, OxyContin and other opiates.

Detective Tony Marcocci, the lead narcotics investigator for
Westmoreland County, said that teenagers were increasingly using
pills, including opiates, to get high. These drugs are also more
likely to be used in school, Marcocci said.

"It's not like marijuana, where kids can leave it at home," he said.
"When you're addicted, you need to use it or there's a withdrawal
issue. Sometimes they need it to get through the school day."

Stoner said that he would recommend at the next board meeting that
the district hire a school resource officer, a police officer who
works to deter and intervene in crimes on school property.

Several area school districts -- including Franklin Regional,
Penn-Trafford and Monessen -- have school resource officers. The
officers are usually members of a local police force, and their
salaries are paid by both the district and the law enforcement agency.

Stoner said that Hempfield could hire two state police troopers for
about $100,000. Leopold said that he would seek a grant to pay for
them.

Meanwhile, the committee planned a public assembly for parents and
students. That assembly, which was to feature speakers from law
enforcement, is set for the evening of Feb. 22 in the high school.