Nearly one in five high school students drink, use drugs or smoke during the school day, according to a national study released this week by Columbia University — a claim challenged by local school officials, police departments and students.

“I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but the number of kids getting into trouble for being under the influence at school is very minimal,” said Jon Wesney, Centerville High School principal. “They don’t bring it here, because they know the administrators are looking for that.”

High schools employ random drug sweeps with local police departments and their canine units, Breathalyzers during school and at school functions, and establish relationships with their students to help them to better detect substance abuse, school officials said.

“We follow through pretty aggressively and check out stories,” said Ron Malone, Springboro High School principal. “We follow a trail and see where it leads.”

When school officials find evidence of abuse, there are criminal and in-school ramifications. Schools apply suspensions or expulsions depending on the substance, the number of offenses and the situation, and penalties often come with medical intervention.

Centerville junior Stephanie McFarland said the school penalties, on top of the legal ramifications, are daunting for many students.

“There may be kids using before school or at lunch, but not at school,” she said. “Due to the consequences, people would be scared to do it in a school setting.”

According to police reports, Centerville High School, with nearly 3,000 students, had 15 incidents related to drugs and one for alcohol since January 2011. Beavercreek High School, which has roughly 2,600 students, had 14 reports related to drugs and four for alcohol during that time.

At Springboro High School, which has about 1,700 students, police report an average of eight to 10 drug and alcohol calls per year. Springboro police Sgt. Don Wilson said prescription drug abuse is a primary concern, since it is harder to detect.

“We have had a few occurrences of this, and do follow up on word-of-mouth cases away from the building,” he said. “This trend continues to be a dangerous one because students sometimes don’t know what they are taking or if their body can tolerate the drug being given.”

Kettering Fairmont High School, with 2,300 students, had just two reports of drug use and no alcohol reports in that time frame, according to the Kettering Police Department. Both drug incidents involved marijuana.

Caroline Grogan, a Fairmont senior, wasn’t surprised by the relatively low number of reports.

“Out of all my four years, you hear the occasional stories, but don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone have alcohol or even smoke at the school,” Grogan said. “Some kids may have smoked in the bathroom, but I saw (evidence of that) maybe once or twice.”

The Riverside Police Department’s Cindi Watson said there had been no alcohol- or drug-related calls to Carroll High School in the last year and a half because the school handles those situations in-house.

“We’ve had several incidences in the last couple years and dealt with them,” said Matt Sableski, Carroll principal. “Drinking is probably the biggest issue we deal with, but it’s at parties on Friday nights. We’ve caught kids drinking at school functions, but it happens very, very, very rarely during the school day.”

Many officials agreed tobacco, both in cigarettes and smokeless forms, is the most common substance abused at school. But they said that has declined greatly in the last five to 10 years.

“There used to be designated smoking areas at schools,” Malone said. “That’s one area we’ve made progress.”

Many area police departments conduct random drug searches of high school lockers, classrooms and parking lots a couple of times per year.

Officer Ron Roberts said the Kettering Police Department conducted a search of Fairmont on Wednesday.

“We had five dogs — four in the school and one in the parking lot,” Roberts said. “We found nothing in the school, but the dog in the parking lot did alert us to a few cars parked together. In one car we found the most minute amount of marijuana, but nothing that amounted to a criminal charge.”

Of the six Dayton Public high schools combined, Dayton Police and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department reports show a total of 17 drug and alcohol calls since 2011 for the more than 4,000 students.

Meadowdale High School Principal Melanie Walter said that low average is because the high schools have metal detectors and students’ book bags are searched when they enter. Students also are not allowed to enter school with open containers.

Walter, like many principals, also credits school resource officers for their work. “Their presence creates a more positive environment,” she said.

Breathalyzers are used as needed at area schools and at all high school dances for Carroll and Alter.

“But, (in four to five years) we’ve never had a positive test on a student,” said Lourdes Lambert, Alter principal. “We had one positive result on a guest who came to a dance with a student.”

Reva Cosby, principal at Wayne High School in Huber Heights, said her educators also have put a greater emphasis on knowing individual students and their behaviors.

And, even though these measures seem to be working, “we’re not letting our guard down,” she said.