The Stoughton High School (SHS) administration conducted a drug search on lockers and parking lots on Oct 11, 2024. This was the first drug search in recent years with significant local law enforcement involvement.
Lance Masters is an Associate Principal at SHS that was new to the district as of last year. “We did not have searches [last year] that involved law enforcement with their dogs, so just doing one is an increase,” Masters said.
Principal Cassie Jemilo also included in an email sent to SHS families after the drug search, saying, “Random, unannounced drug searches are one approach that will help us build an even stronger school culture. We will be conducting additional drug searches in the future.”
Lieutenant Chad O’Neil, who oversaw police staff during the drug search, also confirmed that the administration will be increasing the number of searches going forward.
“I’m aware of discussions on multiple searches per year, but the frequency hasn’t been determined,” O’Neil said in an email. “The police department supports random searches by the school and will support school staff in any way possible, K-9 searches being one of those ways.”
This new approach to drug searches comes not only from a new administration but also the concern for heightened drug use in Stoughton.
“Over the past two-three years, we’ve seen an increase with overdose deaths related to opiates and substances cut with fentanyl. Crystal meth use has also been on the rise in our area,” O’Neil said.
SHS administration has repeated that their motivation behind stricter drug search policies comes from concern for students and families.
“I just think it’s important for society as a whole, for the city of Stoughton, and specifically for our high school, to be thinking about people that are, for whatever reason, finding a need to numb themselves from reality by [using] drugs,” Masters said.
As stated by the Child Mind Institute, “If they’re not treated, almost half of kids with mental health disorders will end up having a substance use disorder.” Some argue that schools should focus more on preventative rather than punitive measures of stopping teen drug use.
As SHS had not done this type of drug search prior to the 2024/25 school year, many students were surprised to find that both lockers and cars were being searched, but O’Neil confirmed that it was a regular procedure to include parking lots in the search.
Staff and students were also surprised by the length of the drug search, taking up the entirety of first hour and most of second hour.
“I wouldn’t necessarily speak for what teachers did or didn’t expect, but I think it did cross my mind, like, this seems to be taking longer than I thought it would take. And, at the same time, […] we want to respect [law enforcement’s] time and their commitment to helping us out,” Masters said.
Some students were flagged and called out of class for medically necessary prescriptions or over-the-counter medications.
“The dogs don’t alert to medications such as insulin or prescription medications. A dog may show interest in a specific scent without a complete alert, and it’s the handler’s job to note the change of behavior in the dog. There can be several reasons for the dog to show interest: residual odor on an item, or an odor that the dog isn’t familiar with,” O’Neil said.
As this is a new procedure that the administration is implementing, some difficulties are still being worked out.
“So after any such incident or situation like that, we do a debrief and figure out, like, what went well? What can we do better? […] And so, that happened with us, and that’s just part of our regular safety procedure,” Masters said.
Overall, law enforcement and SHS plan to continue to partner to combat drug use in the community.
“Law enforcement is concerned with synthetic substances and the marketing used to target young people. These synthetic substances (ie vapes) are sold at gas stations and smoke shops in every city in the US. The flashy packaging, candy flavors, use of cartoons, etc. to attract young users is scarily similar to what the big tobacco companies did many years ago to attract young people to cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Although some of these substances are ‘legal,’ they are still very capable of incapacitating users and causing health problems,” O’Neil said.
SHS administration hopes drug searches will foster a safer environment for students and families as the school year continues.
“I think it’s important that we all recognize what’s at the heart of [drug searches] is safety of all the students. And we want to understand […] what we can do better to help people. And there’s a lot of different things, including the partnership with law enforcement to bring in the dogs that we want to do to help,” Masters said.
