MOORESTOWN'S SCHOOL COMMUNITY DEALS WITH REALITY OF DRUG PROBLEMS

MOORESTOWN -- No drugs were found during a police sweep of Moorestown
High School last week, but administrators said later they know they
need to remain vigilant.

Interim Superintendent Timothy Brennan and other district officials
reviewed recent problems at the school with parents during a Board of
Education meeting Wednesday, a day after the unannounced sweep of the
school campus on Bridgeboro Road.

Parents expressed a variety of reactions to the search by police and
nearly a dozen K-9 units for drugs, weapons and other contraband. The
students were held in homeroom classes for more than two hours during
sweep.

"The first thing is, can you explain why? It makes it feel like ...
is the high school rampant with drugs?" asked parent Kathleen Pennsi.
"It seems like a very extreme, major thing."

Brennan said the sweep was planned in December in response to growing
concern about substance abuse and drug distribution on campus.

He said the substance abuse issue was brought to his attention almost
immediately last August when he arrived to temporarily fill the
superintendent's post. At the time, interim high school Principal
David Yates, who is no longer with the district, expressed concern
about reports of drinking at football games.

Yates and Brennan investigated in October and found students
intoxicated at the games, the superintendent said.

A month later, Brennan said, he heard rumors of drugs being sold at
the high school.

In December, four female students were arrested when they were found
to be in possession of what Brennan then described as "significant
amounts of cocaine, amphetamines and other drugs. The students were
charged with possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia."

During Wednesday's board meeting, Brennan said the girls had
customized cocaine kits that appeared ready for sale.

"They were not hidden," he said. "It appeared as though the kids
thought they could just get away with it."

The administrative team met after the arrests and, despite Brennan's
hesitation, voted 9-1 to support an unannounced sweep of the campus.

"They were adamant about bringing the dogs in," said Brennan, who
cast the lone no vote.

He said that while he saw the value of bringing the dogs into the
school, he preferred a plan to sweep the building when students were
away for winter break, take note of areas where the dogs responded to
residue, and then watch those areas for suspicious activity.

He said the students know to carry illegal substances with them
because the dogs are not searching individuals.

The sweep originally was scheduled for early February, but was
delayed when law enforcement officials asked for more information and
time to review the plan.

Last month, however, another incident rocked the school
community.

Officials found what appeared to be a business ledger that included
"names and (drug) preferences," officials said.

The ledger was found along with a list of weapons and a diagram of
school offices when two students were taken to the high school office
after a fight.

Brennan said the fight appeared to be "the aftermath of a deal gone
sour."

Officials put the high school into lockdown status while officers
investigated whether there was any threat to the building or
students. No one was injured and no actual drugs or weapons were found.

The matter was turned over to the Moorestown Police Department. One
of the students, a 16-year-old, was arrested and charged with making
terroristic threats.

Brennan said officials are still trying to determine whether the
ledger is real or "complete fiction."

Later that same week, the board approved an updated and tougher
substance abuse policy it had been working on for about two years.

Last Tuesday, the Police Department notified the district it was
ready for the sweep and, shortly after the school day began, officers
converged on the building, searching vehicles and lockers.

Brennan said officials were pleased that no drugs, weapons or other
contraband were found, but they remain realistic. He said some
students told him other teenagers in the building moved drugs from
their purses or book bags to their bodies, knowing they would not be
searched.

"There is no way, unless we invade the privacy of students, to
institutionally solve the drug problem. We can only drive them out of
the school," Brennan said.

He added that even if officials can get the product out of the
building, it seems as if the transactions are still occurring inside
the school.

Board President Donald Mishler, responding to a question about what
has changed in the district's fight against substance abuse, said
there has never been a distribution problem in the high school before.

"We don't want to see it get any closer," he said.

Administrators said the sweep was successful in terms of developing
information about areas in the school that need more
supervision.

Parent Nancy Hendrickson said she wasn't convinced the district
needed to use what she called "sledgehammer tactics" to deal with
students and asked why teachers weren't informed of Tuesday's sweep.

Brennan said the district didn't know it would definitely happen
until a few minutes before it began. The board did not know either,
Mishler said.

Another parent applauded the district's efforts.

"Ninety percent are good kids, but there are drugs in this school ...
I'll take this over Columbine," she said, referring to the deaths of
12 students at the hands of two armed classmates in Colorado in 1999.

"The real problem I have is "drug sweep' and "lockdown' are prison
terms, not school terms," said parent Jack Shaloo. "Maybe we can be
more positive and proactive and use those times for drug awareness
training."

Disrtict officials said substance-abuse awareness is part of the high
school curriculum.