FIRM HIRED TO PERFORM SCHOOL SEARCHES

Goodland - A high school in western Kansas has hired a private company to
search the school's premises periodically for weapons, drugs and alcohol.

Inter Quest, an Oklahoma City-based firm, performed the first of its
unannounced checks at Goodland High School on Jan. 15 and 16. A specially
trained dog led an officer to search nine student vehicles.

Officers found two handguns in one vehicle, a shotgun and a pellet gun
inside another, and marijuana inside a third vehicle. Five vehicles
contained shotgun shells, and fireworks were found inside another.

The school called the students out of class to consent to the searches.

The guns and marijuana were seized, and the students -- all 16- and
17-year-old males -- whose cars contained the items received automatic
suspensions.

The students whose cars contained firearms may face one-year expulsions and
criminal charges for possessing a firearm on school property.

"The purpose behind this whole program is not to catch kids and punish
them," Principal Harvey Swager said. "It's to establish a safe atmosphere
for everybody."

The firm will be paid $300 per visit, Swager said.