SACS PROPOSAL WOULD PLACE POLICE DOG AT HOMESTEAD

Southwest Allen County Schools and the Allen County Sheriff's
Department want to put a full-time police dog at Homestead High
School to deter students from bringing drugs and guns onto campus.
The move would make it the first school in Indiana to do so, officials said.

Under a proposal presented to SACS board members Tuesday night, the
sheriff's department would train a Labrador retriever to detect
drugs and weapons, as well as to track students if they disappear
from school during the day. That training would take place
this summer, with the dog being placed in the school starting next
fall, said the district's school resource officer, A.J. Pape.

The dog also would go into SACS' two middle schools occasionally and
would be used for educational purposes at the elementary level. Pape
said it also could be used to keep drugs and weapons out of sporting events.

"When the dogs are in the schools, the drugs and weapons leave the
schools," Pape said.

Homestead currently brings in dogs to search lockers and the parking
lot, but there is no constant presence, and those searches only
cover a small portion of the school. School officials and Pape rely
mostly on students and parents to report drugs or weapons
on campus. Last year, SACS had 17 incidents in which students were
expelled for weapons, drugs or alcohol, according to the Indiana
Department of Education. Of those, 16 involved Homestead students.

Anita Gross, SACS social worker, estimated the move would cost the
district an additional $700 a year and would be used to increase
Pape's salary because of the additional responsibilities he would
take on with the dog. Pape said he would have to go through a
12-week training course this summer and then would take care of the
dog full time after that. SACS plans to do fundraising and seek out
volunteer services to cover vet, food and grooming expenses.

Pape, members of the sheriff's department and district officials
have been working on the proposal for about six months, after Pape
heard of the idea at a National School Safety conference. Few
schools have dogs, but those with them have seen significant drops
in drug- and weapon-related incidents, Pape said.

"Southwest Allen is a leader in school safety," Pape said. "It fit
in with being a forerunner. Anytime you are proposing something that
takes drugs and weapons out of schools, it's hard to take a negative stance."

Gross said she plans to bring the proposal back for the board to
vote on at its next meeting on March 28.