“We’ve had issues over the past three years,” Superintendent Tim Hopkins said. “We’re trying to be open about this. It’s meant to be a deterrent. It’s not about catching kids.”
As juniors and seniors and their dates gather at the Meadowbrook Country Club this year for the annual prom, they can expect to blow into the device if administrators have a reasonable suspicion someone has been drinking.
Kristen Ketron, a business education teacher and adviser to Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), said Brookville has no more problems than other schools. The student group has sponsored an after-prom event with help of parents and local business since 2004.
“I’m very pro keeping kids busy,” she said. “Besides, between 12 and 3 there is no reason for kids to be out.”
A constant battle
Hopkins said the idea for using a machine to test the students came from the students themselves.
“Administrators were spending hours questioning kids to find out the true story. It was extremely time consuming. It’s our hope the devices will minimize our time investment so we can spend more time on education,” he said.
“That the idea came from students was a huge stamp of endorsement.”
The device costs about $400 and is being paid for out of the school’s drug prevention program budget.
Warning students about the tests in advance is a good deterrent, said Scott Ebright of the Ohio School Board Association.
“Districts are doing all they can to discourage students from using drugs, alcohol and other substances,” he said. “It is a constant battle.” He added: “It just might save a few young lives.”
Two paths
The Kettering school district already uses portable detection devices but only when there is a reasonable suspicion that a student has been drinking.
Days before the dance, the administration announces on its PA and video systems that students will be tested.
It’s worked: In the three years that the devices have been used at school dances, not a single student has been arrested for drinking.
Some districts have gone farther. At Oakwood, all students who attend school dances are tested, said Superintendent Mary Jo Scalzo. “The policy was approved by the school board in September 2008 after a year-long study and interaction with our community,” she said.
Since the program began, no student has tested positive for alcohol use, Scalzo said. She pointed out that the test is only one part of the school’s comprehensive drug and alcohol abuse program.
“The message to our students is when you are under our charge and care, we have to do everything we can to ensure your health and safety,” she said.
The law
Although some have raised objections on constitutional grounds about the way Breathalyzers are being used, the courts have made it clear students can be tested, said Gary Daniels of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. The issue, he said, always pops up around prom time.
Daniels pointed out that proms or other after-school activities are not mandatory. And if advanced notice is given of the testing, he said, students who choose to drink before the prom can also choose not to attend the prom. “It should be suspicion-based rather than random or suspicion-less,” he said. “There are inherent problems if you are testing otherwise.”
Staff writers Chris Magan and Kelli Wynn contributed to this report.
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