U.F. official claims district losing battle against drugs
Crack vial, marijuana residue found behind Allentown church
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

The Board of Education and Allentown High School should get tougher on students who abuse drugs, according to one Upper Freehold official.

That’s the view of Deputy Mayor William Miscoski, who is the township’s liaison to the Allentown/Upper Freehold Municipal Alliance to Prevent Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, commonly known as the Drug Alliance. Miscoski also feels the school could devote more resources and options to students struggling with substance abuse problems.

Miscoski spoke about a recent drug-related situation involving an AHS student. According to Miscoski, the student should have received more help from the school when his mother brought his problems to the school’s attention.

Miscoski called the way the school handled the recent situation a “failure on the part of the school district.” Options are available for students having problems, such as alternative schools, Miscoski said.

Miscoski also criticized the school’s LifeSavers Club for only allowing kids who are completely “clean” to join it. Miscoski said AHS just wants kids who will make the program look good, not those who may be struggling with drug and/or alcohol use.

AHS Principal Christopher Nagy said the LifeSavers Club is, by definition, a club whose function is to take a leadership role in drug prevention, and that it promotes a drug-free environment. He said the student assistance counselor, Rick Rivera, serves as the adviser or co-adviser in other clubs that have a broader-based membership.

Miscoski said that students who are arrested by the police at school should be made an example of by removing them from the premises in handcuffs.

“They need to be held responsible for their actions,” he said.

When asked how he felt about Miscoski’s comment, Nagy said that when a student is arrested, the general practice of the school is not to make that student a spectacle.

“Young people talk,” Nagy said. “Incidents are discovered within seconds.

“To put it out as a spectacle,” he said, “does not necessarily support what is the ultimate goal.”

Nagy said the high school’s focus is “to seek and save rather than search and destroy.”

Assistant Superintendent Maybeth Conway said there was a recent change in procedure regarding handcuffing students on school property. According to Conway, a new memorandum of agreement with the Allentown police states that any student arrested on school grounds must be taken away in handcuffs.

Miscoski said the drug/alcohol problem in the area is quite serious. He said drug material was recently found behind the Allentown Methodist Church, and that the church confirmed that a crack vial was found there, along with marijuana residue.

Nagy said the staff, administration and Board of Education are very concerned about drug use in the community.

A report AHS sent to the state this year said the school found seven students under the influence of marijuana and six under the influence of alcohol during the 2004-05 school year. The report also stated that last year, one student was arrested for marijuana possession and another for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

When AHS gave the report to the Board of Education last month, one member stated that the number of reported drug-related incidents seemed low for a district the size of Upper Freehold Regional.

Nagy said the school is mindful to report the numbers as they are.

Miscoski said part of the problem is that few members of the current Board of Education have high school-age children. He said board members may therefore not be as aware of problems as they otherwise would be.

Board of Education President Jeanette Bressi said the school takes substance abuse problems very seriously and offers a variety of counseling services to students with drug problems.

Bressi said once a student is identified as a substance abuser, he or she falls subject to random drug testing.

“We keep on top of it,” Bressi said.

AHS Vice Principal Connie Embley checks in with students who are struggling with substance abuse on a regular basis, according to Bressi.

Bressi said the board’s goals are to stop the drug-related behavior and to aid the students with rehabilitation. She added that because the students are minors, board members do not receive the names of those who have been arrested.

Nagy said AHS is taking a proactive stance to address substance abuse incidents. He said the school is looking to incorporate new ideas in order to address drug use in the high school.

A Student Assistance Counselor Symposium will take place at AHS later this month. The event will examine how substance abuse and drug-related incidents are handled at other schools throughout the state.

Miscoski said a Drug Alliance member suggested the regular use of drug-sniffing dogs at AHS as a way to address the drug issue.

Nagy said the school used drug-sniffing dogs in 1998, but the method took a tremendous amount of effort. The county prosecutor’s office will not consider sending drug-sniffing dogs into a school unless the institution has a very severe drug problem, according to Nagy.

“It’s not as easy as people think it is,” he said.

Miscoski wants more parents in the community to get involved with the local Drug Alliance. He said the alliance plans to form a parent association that will attend Board of Education meetings, as well as Allentown and Upper Freehold meetings, in an effort to make more people aware of the drug problems in the area.

Drug Alliance meetings take place twice a month, once in the morning and once in the evening. For more information, call Miscoski at (609) 758-0698.