POLICE SWEEP WESTFORD ACADEMY; NO DRUGS FOUND

No Link To Arrests, Says Principal

WESTFORD -- Police dogs found no signs of illegal drugs at Westford
Academy Thursday after conducting the first drug-sniffing search in
several years.

"It was what I was hoping for," said the school's principal, Ellen
Parker, "and that is what I anticipated. People know what the
expectations are here. I wasn't surprised. I was pleased."

Parker called it a routine event that had nothing to do with the
recent sentencing of a middle school teacher for heroin possession
and the 2004 guilty plea of a high school math teacher for heroin
distribution.

She likened the surprise search to a fire drill, saying: "Those are
just things schools do. You try to be proactive and make sure you
have an environment for learning. We do what we need to do to ensure
that we can have the safest environment that we can possibly have."

Parker said when the team of dogs and canine officers, all members
of the North East Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, left the
high school, they were headed for another school district to
continue their training. The council oversees 30 communities in
Essex and Middlesex counties.

The council's president, Robert Champagne, who also is Peabody's
police chief, said he was unaware of an "emergency callout," saying
it was most likely a "planned event."

"Those sorts of exercises happen regularly," he said.

Parker said the decision to conduct the search last week was made by
members of the Westford Police Department. Westford's police chief,
Robert Welch, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Earlier in the school year, teachers, students, and parents had been
advised that a drug search would be forthcoming, but Parker said
they were not provided with notice of the date.

In January, the School Committee chairwoman, Betsy Andrews, warned
of a pending canine drug search after middle school teacher Jessica
Palkes was arrested for heroin possession.

"We're trying to show the kids that there's no tolerance," said she
in a January phone interview. Andrews could not be reached for
comment Thursday.

Parker said administrators accompanied six police teams, each
consisting of a dog and two police officers, to sections of the
two-story building. Six classrooms were randomly selected for the
search while classes were in session, and teachers and students were
asked to leave the rooms temporarily. Hallways and other areas of
the building were also checked.

Parker said she didn't know whether vehicles in the school's parking
lot were searched.

On March 24, Palkes, a former Stony Brook School English teacher,
was found guilty of drug possession and operating with a suspended
license. She was placed on probation for one year, and ordered to
undergo drug and alcohol treatment and submit to random screenings.

In December 2004, former math teacher Rosemarie Pumo was sentenced
to at least four years in state prison after pleading guilty to
heroin distribution.