DRUGS IN SCHOOLS 'A PERPETUAL PROBLEM'

School Officials, Data: Student Drug Use Is Persistent, but Not Growing

Two months after police shocked Palm Desert High School by storming
classrooms and arresting students accused of dealing drugs, both
staff and students said they have learned from the undercover operation.

School district officials said they have tweaked security operations
at Palm Desert High and other schools based on information provided
by undercover officers during their five-month operation.

But students say those who use or sell drugs have learned to go
farther underground.

"People were really open about their drug use" before the arrests, a
Palm Desert High School sophomore said. "Now people are more
secretive about it."

The high-profile drug bust served as a reminder for Coachella Valley
residents of the problem of drugs in local schools.

A recent review of school discipline information, however, does not
show drug and alcohol use to be a growing problem, though it is a
persistent one.

"One common statement that (students arrested on campus) give is
'Whatever you want, you can get it in school,'" said Riverside County
Sheriff's Department Sgt. Manny Garcia, with the narcotics unit.

"What I understand by the statement is that it's a lot easier for
them to obtain it there, in school, than out in the world."

As many as 25 percent of high school juniors reported that at least
once last year they attended school while under the influence of
alcohol or illegal drugs, according to an anonymous student survey.

The number of students suspended or expelled for drug-or
alcohol-related offenses has remained relatively steady in Coachella
Valley school districts over the past five years, though suspensions
have risen in Palm Springs Unified and decreased in Desert Sands Unified.

"I think it's a perpetual problem," said Palm Desert High School
interim Principal Sabra Besley, who has worked in several Coachella
Valley schools and has more than 40 years of experience in the field
of education.

"It's something we can't ever stop enforcing."

Drugs widely available

Students from several high schools who talked to The Desert Sun agree
that illicit drugs are readily available at school.

"It's an everyday thing," La Quinta High School junior Angelica
Curiel said. "It's the kids that really don't care about school."

Still, many students agree that though they could easily get drugs if
they wanted to, they don't feel pressured to do anything.

Even students who say it is nearly impossible to avoid other students
who use drugs report they wouldn't be pressured to use if they say
they can't or don't want to, said Denise Muller, a counselor with
Desert Sands Unified's Student Assistant Program.

The program is an intervention for students and their families that
offers counseling and connections to outside resources.

According to anonymous student surveys, while a large percentage of
high school students have tried alcohol or marijuana at least once,
most don't bring the substances to school.

Still, 18 to 25 percent of high school juniors in the valley's three
public school districts reported being drunk or high on school
property at least once in their lifetime, according to the California
Healthy Kids Survey, which is taken by seventh-, ninth- and
11th-graders in each school district.

Statewide, 25 percent of juniors said the same, though that number
also includes students in alternative high schools.

This amount is small compared to the number of juniors who say they
have tried drugs or alcohol, according to the survey.

As many as 65 percent of juniors in local school districts have had
alcohol at least once and 43 percent have tried marijuana.

As many as 27 percent have used prescription pain pills and 29
percent have used cough or cold medicine improperly.

Nationally, as little as 5 percent of drugs on campus are caught,
said Jeff Kaye, director of Security at Desert Sands Unified School District.

Students have the advantage of lookouts and text messaging and often
will quickly take care of business from the middle of a throng of
students walking between classes, for example, said Fred Leeger,
senior security agent at Palm Desert High.

As a result it is tough to catch students in the act, despite
continuous patrols, he said.

"The ones that really want to do something, somehow or other they'll
try," he said.

Schools are increasingly using contraband-detecting dogs as another deterrent.

Desert Sands Unified's school board on Wednesday increased funding
for the dogs by $4,000 -- a 50 percent increase, Kaye said.

Undercover officers -- who were on campus during one search -- said
students cited the dogs as the No. 1 reason they opt not to bring
illicit substances onto school grounds, Kaye said.

Palm Springs Unified School District also will bring in drug-sniffing
dogs this semester.

Why Palm Desert?

That such a police action took place at Palm Desert High prompted
some residents to believe the school is a hotbed of drug activity.

Palm Desert High, though, is about even with Indio and La Quinta high
schools when it comes to the number of drug-related problems reported
to Kaye's office -- and all the schools have lower numbers than
elsewhere in the country, Kaye said.

"I don't think it's a problem specific to a school," he added. "I
think it's a problem specific to high school-age kids."

Palm Desert High School reported 27 drug-related suspensions in
2009-10 -- about half as many as the previous year.

Palm Springs High had one of the highest numbers of suspensions that
year with 106.

"It runs in cycles, I guess," Palm Springs High School Principal
Ricky Wright said.

"I don't think that our kids are using any more than kids in other
high schools in the valley."

Discipline data can be impacted by the way school administration
enforces rules, how it reports data and how much students cooperate
and provide information.

Palm Springs High has seen an increasing issue with marijuana on
campus, said Wright, echoing other school officials.

Medical marijuana dispensaries and (weakened) laws against the drug
have given students easier access or changed their ideas about the
seriousness of the drug, officials said.

Trying drugs or alcohol at a younger age increases the risk that a
student will become an addict as an adult, said Denise Muller, a
counselor with Desert Sands Unified's Student Assistant Program.

"When they're young, their brains are still developing; their bodies
are still growing," she said. "Early use causes them to become
dependant and addicted faster."

Delaying the first use of drugs or alcohol is extremely important, she said.

"The attitude of, oh it's OK, everybody drinks or smokes a little
weed in high school -- that's the wrong attitude," she said.