DRUG PROBLEM AT DELTA SCHOOL 'MINOR'

Drug dogs recently searched a North Delta high school and sniffed out
three dime bags of dope.

But despite the bust, Delta school officials say they have no plans to
introduce an official drug dog policy similar to the one being
contemplated by Surrey school trustees.

"Thankfully, the incidents, to the best of my knowledge, have been
infrequent to the point that it hasn't warranted an official policy,"
Delta school board chairwoman Janet Shauntz said Thursday.

Shauntz noted she doesn't even know how many times police were called
to Delta high schools this year when principals have suspected that
students were stashing drugs in their lockers "so that speaks to the
infrequency of it or it would have been brought to the board as an
issue."

David Fisher, principal of Seaquam secondary school, confirmed that
officers and a pair of police dogs trained in detecting narcotics
searched lockers at his school in late January. The search yielded
three bags of marijuana worth $10 apiece.

Fisher denies the search was done in response to suspicions about a
particular student or students.

"There was nothing specific," he said.

Fisher said the search was conducted partly as a training exercise for
the canine team and as a lesson for students.

"What we're trying to do is get the message out that school is not a
place for drugs," he said.

Fisher said the student caught with the pot was moved to another Delta
high school after a meeting with his parents.

Still, Fisher noted that punishment for possession of small amounts of
drugs isn't the key issue and if the teen behaves, he may get to come
back to Seaquam. "The person admitted he was selling drugs," he said.

"We're looking at redemption. His parents were very supportive and
he's not a problem academically."

Fisher agrees with Shauntz that the current method of dealing with
drugs in schools - calling in a police at the discretion of the
principal rather than imposing an official, formal policy - is adequate.

"It might work in Surrey but I wouldn't like to see it in Delta," he
said of Surrey's proposal.

Fisher characterized the drug problem at Seaquam as
minor.

"At Seaquam, we have a very, very minor drug situation. I think there
are drugs available at any B.C. school but for us it's not a major
issue."