ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Police dogs may be used to search Roanoke County's high schools for illegal drugs that some parents suspect are being used and sold in the schools.
School Board Chairman Thomas Leggette has proposed that county police be invited to take the dogs into the schools for random drug checks throughout the year.
"I have received a lot of complaints from parents about drugs," he said Wednesday. "There is a belief that drug use is up, although it involves a minority of students."
Police Chief John Cease is willing for his officers to make the searches, but he wants the board's consent, Leggette said. "He doesn't want parents and students to feel like this is a police state or anything like that."
Leggette said the School Board will decide soon whether it wants police to check the schools for drugs.
Drug-sniffing dogs were used several times at Salem High last year, but not in Roanoke's high schools.
"At this point, I don't see a need for us to do that," Roanoke Superintendent Wayne Harris said. "I wouldn't be opposed to using them if I thought there was a problem."
The dogs found no illegal drugs at Salem High last year, Assistant Superintendent Michael Bryant said.
Bedford County has used dogs to seek out drugs in some schools, but few have been found.
Roanoke County Superintendent Deanna Gordon said she favors the dog searches if they will help keep drugs out of school. She noted that a recent national survey showed that teen-age drug abuse has risen since 1992.
Marijuana smoking by teens increased by 105 percent, and teens' overall drug use nearly doubled, according to the survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Eleven percent of teens reported they had used marijuana or another illegal drug in the past month.
Leggette said some parents' fears about drug sales in schools might be unfounded, but the dogs could help ease their worries.
"I think the drug problem involves a minority of students, and I'd like to see what we can do to move it away from the schools," he said.
Leggette said he also has talked with Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart about the prosecution of cases involving the discovery of drugs in schools.
The county has decided to hire police resource officers to work in the four high schools, similar to the officers in Roanoke's schools.
Leggette said parents must take a stronger role in making sure their children don't use illegal drugs.
"We have children for a limited portion of each day. We cannot do the job without [parents'] help," he said. Studies have shown that much of the drug abuse by teen-agers occurs during the weekends, he said.
Leggette said Parent-Teacher Associations at most schools have had programs to ensure that parents are familiar with the signs of drug and alcohol abuse, but many parents have not attended. He has urged PTAs to schedule these programs again and try to get more parents to attend.
The county also has a safe-home booster pledge for parents to sign, promising that their home will be free of drugs and that no alcohol will be served to minors. But many parents apparently don't know about the pledge or fail to sign it, he said.
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