Drug Dog
To Sniff Out Burr and Burton
by Patrick McArdle (staff writer)
January 30, 2006 Bennington Banner
MANCHESTER — Burr and Burton Academy will invite police
with drug sniffing dogs to conduct random searches of
its campuses, a decision that has caused concern over
civil rights and led school leaders to schedule a
community forum on substance abuse by students. "We
decided that the presence of drugs, real or perceived,
was having an impact on learning at the school," said
Burr and Burton Headmaster Charles Scranton.
According
to Scranton, the decision to implement searches did not
come from any incident at the school or with its
students. Instead, it was Burr and Burton taking the
point in leading the community to "acknowledge we have
problems," he said.
Sheriff's
deputy to help
The
school will be working with Sgt. James Wright of the
Bennington County Sheriff's Department. Wright will be
asked to visit the campus randomly and search limited
areas of the school selected by school administrators.
Scranton
said the dog would never be used to search individual
students.
Wright
said he believes the searches will proceed like those he
has conducted at other Vermont schools. The dog will
search a common area at the school while students are
either practicing emergency drills or in class.
Wright
said he knows that some people are uncomfortable around
dogs, so he always has a school administrator with him
to help students avoid contact with the four-legged
officer of the law.
"The dog
doesn't really care if the kids are walking by or not.
He's working," Wright said.
If the
dog responds to anything, Wright will let administrators
know exactly where the dog showed an interest. Wright
doesn't really know how effective the dog is because he
leaves after passing along the information. It's up to
administrators and the police officers in that
jurisdiction to investigate further.
"But the
feedback we've gotten has been really good so far,"
Wright said.
Assurances by police officers and administrators leave
Bradley Myerson unconvinced, however. The Manchester
lawyer, who has a long-time commitment to working with
the American Civil Liberties Union, thinks drug-sniffing
dogs don't belong at Burr and Burton or on any school
campus.
"It's
like they're saying, 'We're going to take the most
drastic measures we can to scare these kids,'" Myerson
said.
Myerson
is very concerned about substance abuse and, said that
he has a lot of respect for Burr and Burton, Scranton
and the chairman of the school's board, Seth Bongartz.
"That's
why I'm baffled by the whole policy. It's demeaning,
it's offensive and it's sends kids the wrong message.
What does this policy teach kids about respect? About
trust?" Myerson said.
Bongartz
said the board had been unanimous in its decision to
allow the searches and that its members strongly
supported the school's efforts.
Scranton
said after he and the board had consulted with
attorneys, he had no concerns about whether the school
was allowed to conduct the searches.
"The
argument that this violates civil rights carries no
weight whatsoever. This casts no shadow, no cloud over
Burr and Burton. It sends the message that on this high
school campus, at least, drugs will not be tolerated,"
he said.
Scranton
said the civil rights of Burr and Burton students would
always be protected as long as he was headmaster.
'A great
school, but ...'
"We have
a great school and part of that is that we have a
healthy culture and climate. We had a lot of concerns
about compromising that culture but ultimately we
realized that drugs were a bigger threat," he said.
Students
were informed of the searches at a school assembly and
parents through a letter sent to their homes. Scranton
said the news of the policy "raised the level of the
conversation," which lead to the decision to host the
forum on Feb. 8.
Manchester Police Chief Manfred Wessner, Scranton,
Bongartz and a substance abuse counselor will appear at
the forum, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Riley Center for
the Arts at the school.
Myerson
said he would be there as well and he intended to speak.
Myerson admitted that he may be in the minority in his
opinion about the searches but he believes so strongly
that school officials are wrong that he intends to
continue to speak out.
Burr and
Burton officials, meanwhile, are hoping to hear
something else from students, parents and other
Manchester-area residents.
"What we
find at the school is that very often parents are
saying, 'Why don't you do something about this?' We want
people to understand, this is a family issue, a
community issue as well as a school issue," Bongartz
said.
Bongartz
believes it will be especially helpful to hear from
students about drug and alcohol abuse, how it's
happening and how it can be prevented.
Scranton
is hoping adults are paying attention too.
"Our goal
is to see parents step up to the plate. We also want
local law enforcement to see the only way to lessen the
impact of drugs is through partnership with the
community," he said.
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