ROCKPORT — Camden Hills Regional High School administrators found a joint in a car in the school parking lot after drug dogs were alerted by its scent, Dec. 13.

The discovery of the marijuana took place during a scheduled search of the campus for drugs. It is the first such search made this school year; two were conducted last year. The search was conducted by Rockport Police Chief Mark Kelley, Rockport Police Officer Craig Cooley, and two Lincoln County Sheriff deputies and their drug dogs, Olga and Coda.

The dogs are trained to sniff out marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other substances.

Last year, the school approved using search dogs twice on campus, with nothing found. This fall, there have been no incidents on the Rockport campus with alcohol or substance possession, but Principal Nick Ithomitis said Dec. 14: "We want kids to be here in drug-free environment. Most kids honor that. Most kids happy we are doing this. We want students to know that we will go to great lengths to make sure we have no drugs on campus."

The school board approved the canine searches last year after a series of incidents took place involving drugs, including bath salts.

According to Kelley, the search, which was conducted at the request of the principal, via the Five Town CSD superintendent, took 90 minutes of police time, and disrupted school time for 40 to 45 minutes.

"A minimum number of people were aware of the impending search," he said.

At 12:44 p.m., parents received the following email from CHRHS Principal Nick Ithomitis:

"Hello Folks,

"I want to update you on today's 'stay in place' and canine search. Let me start by saying the kids and staff were terrific. Our drill was nearly perfect, and the students and staff were very cooperative during the dogs searches.

"Most of you know that last year we had two canine searches. This year's search was different. The dogs spot checked the student parking lot, some lockers, and they went into three, randomly chosen classrooms.

"Here is how we 'chose' the classrooms. Yesterday, we put the numbers of all the rooms in a hat. We then pulled out three numbers. Those were the rooms we searched. The only caveat to this random way of choosing the rooms is that we kept choosing rooms until we got one room on each academic floor. Therefore, it took a few pulls from the hat before we got a room number for each floor.

"I want to assure you that no students or teachers were in the classrooms when the dogs conducted the searches, nor did the dogs 'search' any student. We did have the students leave their backpacks, computer bags and purses in the classrooms that were searched. The dogs searched the rooms in general and specifically sniffed each backpack, laptop case and purse.

"The classroom and locker searchers did not result in any drugs. The parking lot search resulted in the discovery of a drug in one vehicle.

"On one level, none of us looked forward to these searches, not for the fear of finding anything, but because we have all worked hard to form positive relationships with our students. We hope the students and parents do not see searches as a lack of trust. Bottom line, we owe it to our students, staff and community to do all we can to have a drug-free campus.

"I encourage you to discuss this situation with your kids, and as always, you are welcome to contact me with any questions or concerns.

"Dr. I."

According to Police Chief Kelley, students in the three designated classrooms were asked to leave the room and leave their belongings behind. As they did, the dogs and their handlers entered the rooms. If the dog detected anything of note, the second dog arrived to confirm the scent.

In this instance, one dog found a strong scent on a student's back pack in the room. The second dog arrived and confirmed the scent.

Administrators opened the back pack and found nothing. The dogs, police and administrators then moved to one of the school's parking lot to the vehicle of the student in question. The dogs picked up the scent there after circling the car twice. Administrators opened the car and found a joint hidden in the passenger glove compartment. Parents were subsequently notified.

The penalty for possessing drugs or alcohol at school is automatic suspension, said Principal Nick Ithomitis, Dec. 14.

When the school and Rockport police agreed to conducting substance searches last year, they decided that the first time a student is caught with an illegal substance, punishment originates from school policy. If, however, the same student is caught with an illegal substance the second time a canine search is under way, the student will enter the court system.

Kelley said Dec. 14: "The first time someone is caught, the school takes care of it. The second time, the consequences are elevated. I don't want the kids to enter the system. I want them to do smart things. Don't take drugs to school."

Ithomitis said more searches would be taking place with Camden Hills Regional High School students, "anywhere that a student is part of the CHRHS community, whether that be adult ed, Zenith, or a school trip."

He said: "It's something we don't do lightly. We don't want drugs on campus."

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@PenBayPilot.com; 706-6657.