Drug-sniffing dogs will be making a return visit—perhaps several visits—to the Bromfield School this fall. Administrators say that their own observations, coupled with results reported last spring in a survey about risky behavior, suggest that drug use has increased at the school.
Superintendent Linda Dwight told the School Committee this week that having Harvard police bring dogs to check hallways and lockers would deter people from keeping drugs at school. Both Principal Jim O’Shea and Associate Principal Scott Hoffman have seen indications of increased drug activity, she said. And the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, in results released last April, showed that marijuana use was higher among 10th, 11th, and 12th graders at Bromfield than at surrounding schools. The survey did not ask about other drugs.
School Committee member Kirsten Wright said many kids are also concerned about drug use among their peers and want the school to do something.
Dwight plans to keep everyone in the school community informed about the upcoming drug inspections through the parent newsletter, by talks with the student council, and by open discussion, all of which are expected to heighten the deterrent effect. The goal, she said, is to reduce the availability of drugs at school.
While acknowledging that using drug-sniffing dogs in school is always controversial, Dwight noted that Harvard police have done such inspections from time to time in past years. She said she will coordinate the time and date of the drug search with Police Chief Ed Denmark.
While the first such inspection will be well advertised, Dwight said, the next one might be unannounced.
During the inspection, students will be required to remain in their classrooms while police walk the hallways with their dogs. The downside of the procedure, Dwight acknowledged, is that it takes time away from learning.
Although Massachusetts has decriminalized the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, it is still against school rules to have even small amounts on school property, just as it is with alcohol. And other drugs, as well as larger amounts of marijuana, remain illegal.
