Board studies policy on drug abuse

The Bigfork school district is addressing how it should communicate to the community when illicit substances are found at school.

The Bigfork school board last week considered the issue at its monthly meeting. Jeff Hider brought the issue to the board’s attention, saying the school is doing parents a disservice by not releasing information after drugs are found at the school.

Hider’s concern was spurred after a routine visit to the school by Interquest Canines, which contracts with the school to detect drugs, alcohol, and other illicit substances. Two searches in November sparked rumors in the community that there had been a major drug bust at the school, when in fact only a couple of students were disciplined for possession of illicit substances.

Hider said he thinks the school’s administration should release a report to parents after the Interquest dog visits the school, stating either what was found, the number of offenses, which administrator worked with the dog and who can be contacted for more information. He suggested the information could be posted on the website or included in the regular e-mails that parents receive.

“I can’t think of a good reason why we wouldn’t do it,” Hider said.

School board member Christina Relyea said she thinks releasing some kind of information could be a good idea.

“Why would it be a problem to release that information?” she asked.

Board chair Paul Sandry argued against releasing any information, pointing out that they hold disciplinary hearings for students who were caught with illegal substances in executive session. “It’s a confidential matter, number one,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to know who got busted.”

Sandry said that the school doesn’t release information when students get into a fistfight or any other disruptive matters. Asking the administration to release those reports would be putting one more requirement on them, Sandry said.

“I’m not for it, I’m just letting you know,” Sandry said.

Board vice chair Patricia Landon said that when she heard rumors, she went straight to superintendent Matt Jensen for answers.

“I think it would be a detriment to put it on the website,” she said.

Board member Dana Whitney said releasing the information could be a way to try to control the rumors.

Board member Zack Anderson said people should call the district office with questions when they hear rumors.

Relyea pointed out that having people call Jensen would also increase his work load. Sending out a note, just after searches, would mean fewer people would need to call the district office.

“I think it’s a health hazard,” Relyea said. The district puts out information when there have been cases of head lice or the flu. Relyea said knowing that certain drugs have been found at the school would change how she would talk to her family about them.

Anderson argued against that health hazard point, saying that drug use isn’t a communicable disease.

Though he said the item was a matter for the board to decide, Jensen said information shouldn’t be out there before students have had a chance to meet with the school board. He also pointed out that substance-abuse violations aren’t always discovered through the drug dogs. Sometimes it’s a tip from another student or parent, or sometimes a student’s behavior alerts a teacher. Jensen said while there is nothing that legally stops the school from posting information, it has historically not been done. He also said that as soon as you put some of that information out there, it is pretty easy to figure out which student is in trouble.

Elementary and Middle School Vice Principal Matt Porrovecchio said when a student is taken out of class during a drug search, by the end of the day everyone in school knows who that student is. He said he thinks about the situations as if he were the parent of the student that was in trouble.

“I think publicizing it could be really an unforeseen dark road to go down,” Porrovecchio said. “The reality of these situations is they’re few.”

Whitney suggested a compromise of letting parents know the drug dog was at the school and they can call if there are any questions.

Landon suggested producing a periodic report that is not linked to inspections, but provides an overview of any substance violations that happened at the school that year. She said she understood the need for information, but is concerned that students might be doing drugs because they are already ostracized by their peers, and putting information out would only serve to further stigmatize the student in the community, and possibly drive them to increase their drug use.

Sandry pointed out that releasing any information would affect parents’ decisions about what school to send their children to.

It was also pointed out that no other schools in the Flathead Valley release information after illicit substance violations.

“I do believe communication is critical,” Anderson said.

“I’m a parent and I want to know if things are getting better or worse or staying the same,” Hider said.

Since two school board members, Paul Sullivan Jr., and Jessica Martinz, were not at the meeting, it was decided the topic should be discussed again when the entire board is present.