MIXED REVIEW FOR PRINCIPAL'S CRACKDOWN METHODS

Alberta's Information and Privacy Commissioner said this week the idea
of using drug-sniffing dogs to track drug-related activity among
Composite high school students reminds him of a bad Second World War
movie.

Frank Work said such a move could be a violation of the students'
civil liberties.

"I don't think you do something like this on fishing trips," he said.

He said it upsets him crazy when administrations use force instead of
compassion to rule schools.

"If they keep doing it, it teaches kids that this is the norm," he
said. "This is not how we want to be doing things in this country."
Work said that if Comp principal Phil Meagher insists on going ahead
with the use of drug-sniffing dogs (as the principal said he would at
a school assembly last week), then he owes his students an
explanation.

Meagher said this morning if RCMP officers aren't legally allowed to
search his schools, then he'll find some other way to do it. "There
are always other ways," he said. "Some of those ways I can't discuss.
When the door closes use the window."

Sharon Clarkson, chairwoman of the public school board, said that
police dogs cannot just be brought into a school. She said that while
all of McMurray's schools have strict regulations against alcohol,
smoking and drugs, administration must try to work with students and
not against them.

"While I understand (Meagher's) passion, we have to respect that laws
are in place not only to correct, but also to protect. "We have to be
aware of every individuals' rights."

Mark Davidson, the principal of Taber's W.R. Myers high school, agrees
with Meagher's efforts.

His southern Alberta school used contracted drug-sniffing dogs from
September to December of 2002. He said his primary reason for the
contract with a privately-owned company was the deterrent factor.

Considering the age group that attends high school, Davidson said he
expects some of the students to be regular drug users and,
subsequently, drug dealers.

He just didn't want the problem in his school, he explained.

"But we didn't just decide we were going to do and then do it," he
explained.

W.R. Myers was the scene of a shooting in April 1999. A student killed
a fellow pupil and injured another in the incident. It was not linked
to drugs. Davidson was not the principal at the time.

He said the school's council was asked for its support and students
gave their input.

"Our principal goal wasn't to charge, but to deter," he said.

Currently, Davidson's school isn't using the dogs, but only because
the animals were moved from Taber.

Davidson said if he could find another company that provided the same
service, he would continue the searches.