POLICE MAKE BIGGEST SCHOOL MARIJUANA BUST IN MEMORY

A tip from a student led Fort Wayne Police to the largest amount of
marijuana they could remember confiscating in a school.

A 16-year-old male student faces felony possession of marijuana and
possible expulsion after police and officials from the Ward
Education Center, a Fort Wayne Community Schools alternative school,
found almost 4 pounds of the drug in his locker May 2.

The marijuana, valued at an estimated $10,000, was contained in five
extra-large Ziplock bags. The student was arrested and taken to the
Allen County Juvenile Center, according to a police report. Like
police, neither district officials nor a national school safety
expert could recall a similar incident.

"In my 20-plus years, that has to be one of the largest amounts, if
not the largest amount, of marijuana confiscated from an individual
in a school," said Kenneth Trump, president of the Cleveland-based
National School Safety and Security Service, which has worked with
Fort Wayne Community Schools on safety issues. "A majority of kids
don't have drugs, but those that do usually have small amounts on them."

After being tipped off, Ward Education Center staff notified two
Fort Wayne Police officers working security at the school, which
targets middle- and high-school students who have been expelled or
have other behavioral problems. Police searched a locker that had a
"strong odor of marijuana" coming from it and found the "green leafy
substance" in a backpack, the report said.

Doug Coutts, FWCS' chief operations officer, declined comment on the
incident but said disciplinary action could range from suspension to
expulsion. Normally, a student's past disciplinary problems factor
into the extent of their punishment.

In addition to prevention programs, schools in the district perform
routine unannounced searches of backpacks and sweeps of parking lots
to deter students from bringing drugs on campus, Coutts said.

Because schools reflect the community at-large, problems with drugs
and alcohol among students are not unusual, Trump said. Recently,
drug and gang activity has increased in schools across the U.S.
because funds for prevention and intervention programs are being
diverted elsewhere, he added.

"It's a rollercoaster," Trump said. "Some people have the view that
there has been a cure. Rarely is the problem cured, and it tends to
come back even stronger."