School Board Takes No Action on Drug Dog
La Grange I.S.D. Board of Trustees withheld action on a contract renewal for canine contraband detection services.
The school contracts with a private company to provide the service, which involves a handler and a scent-detecting dog that periodically search for drugs and other contraband on school campuses.
At their meeting last Monday, June 27, the school board was set to approve the renewal as part of the consent agenda (a part of the meeting when routine matters are approved without discussion). Trustee Calvin Mersiovsky requested the item be taken off the consent agenda and discussed by the board.
Mersiovsky said several constituents, including some former students, complained to him about the dog handler.
“These guys graduated five, six or seven years ago, and these guys were convinced that the dog doesn’t do anything,” Mersiovsky said. “They just pick a random vehicle. This one student, they tried to tell him that the grass in his shoe was marijuana. It was actually in his shoe from hauling hay.
“The biggest problem I have is the way this guy talks to our students,” Mersiovsky said. “When (Police Chief) Gilbreath was around, he would be a model citizen. But when nobody is around, that’s when he, allegedly, hammers these kids.”
Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers said the school resource officer along with a campus administrator should be present whenever a search takes place.
“How often does it happen when no one is around,” asked Trustee Anthony Wessels.
“It shouldn’t happen,” said Superintendent Andy McHazlett. “He has no authority to do anything without a school official. There should be a school principal, an assistant principal or an SRO (school resource officer) present to walk him through there. It involves removing students from classrooms and looking through their backpacks. There should always be a representative from the district with them.”
McHazlett, who started working for the district this summer, said he was not aware about any issues with the canine contraband detection services contract.
“I wasn’t here for any of this,” McHazlett said. “ I can set up a meeting and go through the expectations of what it should be like and get some feedback. Again, this is all brand new. It’s also probably one side of the story. In this business, I’ve learned there’s usually two sides to everything and the truth is in the middle sometimes. But I definitely have no problem visiting with this person and going through our expectations of what it should look like professionally, every time, regardless of who’s present.
McHazlett said the board could also look at other service providers.
“This is just like any other contract,” he said. “It’s up for renewal and we can decide who it is. I don’t know if there are a bunch of companies available. It’s like anything else, if we’re not happy with the services being provided, we can move on to services with a different vendor.
“There’s ways to massage through this and make sure we get the best company that will not only treat our kids right, but be effective at what they’re doing,” McHazlett added.
McHazlett recommended postponing approval of the contract renewal for a future meeting.
“I think maybe we should do some more research on this before moving forward with it,” McHazlett said.
The board voted unanimously to postpone the contract renewal.