MANCHESTER SCHOOLS MAY USE POLICE DOGS TO SEARCH FOR DRUGS

MANCHESTER - The town's schools may soon start using police dogs to
search lockers, desks, and other school property.

The Board of Education on Monday heard from John Bishop, the school
system's safety officer, and lawyer Joan Libby, the school system's
human resources director, about how the schools could use dogs,
metal-detecting wands, and Breathalyzers to search for drugs and
weapons and determine if students have been drinking alcohol.

Because the wands and Breathalyzers would be used by school
officials to search students, Libby explained, the board would have
to set rules for these items' use in the schools very carefully.

The school staff members using this equipment would have to be
well-trained and the school system would have to be very confident
that the equipment is of high quality, Libby said.

Searches by dogs of people are sometimes acceptable and sometimes
not, she said.

But the schools are already able to search school property,
including students' lockers and desks, using police dogs, Libby said.

The school board therefore did not need to take any vote to allow
school administrators to plan for possible police-dog searches.

After the meeting, Superintendent of Schools Kathleen M. Ouellette
said that such searches may happen in any of the schools before the
end of this school year.

The school board would have to come up with a policy to govern
metal-detecting wand and Breathalyzer use in the schools before
those could be used, though.

Those board members who spoke about this issue said they support
allowing the dogs in the schools to keep them safer.

Board Secretary Michael T. Rizzo said the schools are responsible
for trying to prevent drug use and violence, while police are
responsible for arresting those who break the law.

Security to protect the "98 percent" of students who don't cause
trouble has lately become a major concern, Rizzo said.

Last month, Police Chief James O. Berry urged the school board to
consider allowing the occasional use of drug-sniffing dogs and
metal-detecting wands in the schools.

He said the problems caused on Manchester's streets by groups of
young people had worsened since he spoke to the school board in the fall.

Berry said the groups were not gangs but that the situation was
"moving in that direction," with one group affiliating itself with
an Albany Avenue-based group in Hartford's north end and Manchester
police on the lookout for recruiting and intimidation
by out-of-town gang members.

The chief said then that it bothered him that he sends his
department's dogs to places such as Farmington but was not allowed
to send them into the Manchester schools.

At the same time, "we don't want to see any of our schools look like
a prison," he said.

Board Chairwoman Margaret H. Hackett said Monday that the board
generally leaves school security matters to school administrators.

She also said the comments she heard from the public about this
issue supported using police dogs in the schools.

Bishop also gave the board a list of "priority needs" for the
schools on Monday.

He said security equipment such as cameras and door locks that allow
access by identification cards should be budgeted under the school
board's policy to guarantee funding for building maintenance and
upkeep, Policy 3510.

Bishop said buzzer systems need to be installed at the elementary
schools that don't have them. Robertson Elementary School is
scheduled to get a buzzer system first, then Martin, Highland Park,
and Bowers schools.

Cameras should be installed at Illing Middle School, Bishop said.

And he said he would like to be more included in the planning for
school building renovations.