Beattie approves drug-sniffing dog searches

All that's needed for dogs to start sniffing for drugs at A.W. Beattie Technical School are the dogs.

Vocational Director Kathryn Bamberger -- who's been working with McCandless police and the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office to get the dogs into the school -- says the drug searches will start soon.

Word about the upcoming searches -- approved by the Beattie board last week -- has gotten around, driving down drug incidents at the school, Bamberger said.

Students found to have drugs in their lockers or cars are suspended for three to 10 days with possible expulsion, depending on the policies of students' home districts. Criminal charges also might be filed.

Karen Boujoukos, a Beattie board member from the North Allegheny School District, said she initially was uneasy but now embraces the notion of dog searches. Beth Ludwig, another Beattie board member from North Allegheny, also had her doubts but now backs searches, Boujoukos said.

"We were not opposed to the idea of drug searches at Beattie, we just wanted more data," Boujoukos said. "We wanted to know what was going to happen to the kids."

Ludwig could not be reached for comment.

North Allegheny is the only district served by Beattie that does not use drug-sniffing dogs in its schools.

Beattie also serves the Avonworth, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel Area, Hampton, North Hills, Northgate, Pine-Richland and Shaler Area schools.

James Fisher, Beattie board president and a Shaler Area School Board member, said there might be a search before the end of the school year.

Bamberger so far has not heard complaints from parents.

"Any conversations I've had with parents, they've been very supportive," she said.