UNANIMOUS VOTE TO PAY FOR DRUG DOG SERVICE

Durham District School Board trustees have voted to allow the continued use
of privately contracted drug detection dogs at a cost of $150 per visit.

The move was taken after questions were raised about why Durham Regional
Police drug detection dogs available free of charge, were not being used in
all school search situations in Durham Region.

At the request of Whitby Trustee Doug Ross and a majority of trustees at a
January DDSB meeting, staff prepared a report for trustees on the use of
the privately certified and contracted dogs to search for drugs in Durham
schools.

"I have concerns over funds being taken from school block budgets to pay
for a service that taxpayers have already funded through the police
budget," Mr. Ross said at the time.

Scugog Trustee Martin Demmers said at the time of the original request that
he would look into the matter further, however, after Tuesday's (March 17)
vote the local trustee did not seem to have answered several key questions.

Don McLean, Superintendent of Special Education, who prepared the report
for the DDSB board of trustees, said that as a result of "legal
consultations" board staff had been told that evidence collected by police
drug dogs could be "questionable."

"The debate about the use of private dogs versus police dogs appears to be
centered around the question of whether or not the use of police drug dogs
infringes on section eight of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms related to
illegal searches," Mr. McLean said in his report. "Legal opinion related to
the use of drug dogs is not unanimous."

Mr. McLean told The Star that in discussions with police authorities he got
"differing views even from them."

Mr. Demmers voted in favour of allowing principals (after checking with
their superiors) to use privately owned drug dogs in situations "where the
purpose of the search is intended to lead to criminal charges," and to use
DRPS dogs for "purposes of school order and discipline."

When asked if legal opinions on the use of DRPS dogs had been obtained from
a Crown Attorney who prosecutes drug charges, neither Mr. Demmers nor
Uxbridge/Brock Trustee Nancy Loraine could say.

Mr. Demmers said he was not clear on what "school order and discipline"
meant in relation to the use of police dogs in school either.

"I am satisfied with the report and with the judgement of our legal
experts," Mr. Demmers said.

When asked if he knew whether the expert legal opinion was from a lawyer
practicing criminal law Mr. Demmers said, "I do not know about that."

The Durham Regional Police service has three certified drug search dogs and
handlers that it makes available to Durham area school boards at no charge.

When asked if he knew who the certification board for privately owned dogs
used by the DDSB was, Mr. Demmers, and Ms. Loraine, both said they did not.

Both trustees also admitted they were unaware of whether the service of
private dogs (at a cost of about $150 per visit) was tendered. None of the
five trustees asked about tendering including Mr. Demmers and Ms. Loraine,
could say.

Tim Taylor, Principal at Port Perry High School, said he is more than
satisfied with using Durham Regional Police drug dogs.

"We have an excellent working relationship with our School Community
Liaison Officers and we intend to continue to use their expertise," Mr.
Taylor said. "We have had the drug dogs in the school on occasion and it is
a useful tool for us."

The DDSB board of trustees voted unanimously to retain the use of private
dogs in school drug searches.