NO POLICE PRESENCE AT DRUG MEETING

PORTSMOUTH - Wanting to stay out of a "local political issue," state
police have turned down a request to send a K-9 officer and
drug-detecting dog to tonight's parents meeting regarding the
Portsmouth High School drug policy.

"This issue was examined to be a local political issue between the
School Board and this parents group," said Lt. David Kelley of the New
Hampshire State Police Troop A. "It's best dealt with at the local
level."

Parents requested the dog come to the 7 p.m. meeting at the Comfort
Inn on Lafayette Road for a demonstration on how it is used to search
for drugs in schools. The School Board held a public meeting last week
to address concerns about the school's drug policy.

Organizer Bob Montville tried for weeks to get Portsmouth police to
attend with one of their dogs which the school district has talked
about using at the high school.

That request was denied by the Police Commission. John Kelley, the
commission's chairman, said last week attendance by police officials
at the meeting "would not be productive."

"Why can't they educate us?" said Montville. "We're taxpayers. Our
kids are in the schools."

Montville's criticism of the school system for alleged inconsistency
in prosecution of students for drug offenses has been met with
displeasure by School Board members.

"I just don't think there's any point to it," said board member Ann
Walker of the meeting. "We've already heard everything he's had to say
over and over again."

Walker added her praise for last week's public meeting which, she
said, gave concerned parents an understanding of the school's drug and
alcohol policy.

"I don't think there's anything more to hear," she said.

The full board will not be present tonight because of a state law
prohibiting more than four members from attending a meeting that is
not publicly posted. Individual board members can attend as long as
their number does not exceed four.

The one city official known to be attending is City Councilor Laura
Pantelakos, who has criticized both the board and Police Department
for not attending the meeting.

"I'm really disturbed that the police department won't be there,"
Pantelakos said "The people that will be there pay for the dogs to be
at the (Portsmouth) police station."

Commissioner Kelley was unaware of the state police's decision
Monday.

"My understanding is that the state police is going to bring a drug
dog to discuss how they operate, but there will be no discussion with
respect to their use in the Portsmouth schools," the commissioner said.

"(Portsmouth police) want to be able to demonstrate the capability of
the canine group at any particular time, but we feel that this
particular meeting is not something that we want to participate in."

At the public meeting, Superintendent Lyonel Tracy reversed the
district's stance - expressed in comments by Assistant Superintendent
Robert Lister - that drug sweeps by dogs would be too
intimidating.

"We are right on schedule to have dogs in the schools," Tracy
said.

Rodney Rodriguez, a parent planning to attend tonight, invited an
officer he knows from Massachusetts who offered to bring a dog from
his unit. That effort was also denied.

Rodriguez said that if he went to the police station on his own to ask
about drug prevention, no one would stop him.

"But because we're a group of concerned citizens, they think it's some
kind of politics that they don't want to be involved in," he said.