Recent evidence of drug use concerns some at high school By MATT KAPKO Half Moon Bay Review January 5, 2005 In a perfect world there would be no reason to worry about drugs at Half Moon Bay High School. This isn't a perfect world: * Last Nov. 18 police arrested a 14-year-old student at his home for alleged methamphetamine possession and intent to sell. His arrest followed a fruitless search at the high school. * On Dec. 6 police arrested a student at the high school for battery and attempting to intimidate a witness. The student, who allegedly admitted to affiliation with a local gang, reportedly confronted another student, shoved him and accused him of telling police that a friend was selling drugs at the high school. * On Dec. 13 police arrested a 14-year-old student at the high school for alleged marijuana possession with intent to sell. All three students were booked at Hillcrest Juvenile Hall. Police have made 18 arrests at the high school on drug-related charges since 1999. During that same period, two students have been arrested at Cunha Intermediate School on drug-related charges. Half Moon Bay High Principal Sue Million issued a written statement when asked to comment on drugs in the school. "The problem of drugs in school is a continuing one nationwide," she wrote in an e-mail to the Review. "It needs to be addressed at every level: nationally, with state policy, and most importantly in every community and school district. "I am pleased at the commitment of the Cabrillo Unified School District, as well as the community in Half Moon Bay toward addressing the problem. It has been addressed in a combination of ways, including a close collaboration with local law enforcement to apprehend offenders, a training program of teachers and staff members in detecting problems and how to deal with them, a close collaboration between the school administration and the school board in setting and implementing policy, close communication between the staff at the schools and parents, and perhaps most importantly, continuing education for our students on the effects of drug use." Whether those efforts - or any similar efforts at schools nationwide - is working is largely a matter of perception and perspective. Lorri Caprista is a county probation officer who splits her time between Half Moon Bay and Baden high schools. Baden is a continuation school in South San Francisco. Caprista said most of the students she sees with drug problems live Coastside. "There are always drugs on campuses," she said. "I'll tell you what we see - we see methamphetamine, we see cocaine, we see marijuana." Cocaine and methamphetamine use among Half Moon Bay High School students runs "neck and neck," she said. "I see more cocaine on the coast than I see in South San Francisco," she said. "I meet up with all kinds of kids," she said. "In a day I'm probably working with at least 10 kids, if not more." Students considered "at risk" receive one-on-one counseling with Caprista and are watched closely. Often teachers spot trouble before administrators or law enforcement. Teacher Joan McBride said she's seen students stoned in her Half Moon Bay classroom. She teaches special education classes has seen a lot in her 24 years at the high school. Now that the district enforces a "zero tolerance" policy on student drug use, McBride said her options are limited. In the past, she was able to talk with parents and tackle drug problems without the aid of law enforcement, she said. "I think the pendulum has swung a little too far," she said. "I think a lot of kids are (salvageable) and we shouldn't give up on them. "We don't throw away people. That's not working," she said. "We're spending so much more money on prison than education." Students need to know that help is available, she said. "Turning your head is enabling," she said. Caprista agrees. She says her job is to prevent drug use among students, not lock up offenders. "We don't want kids to enter the system," she said. Robin Tomlinson also opposes incarceration as an approach to kicking drug habits. She's a coordinator at El Centro de Libertad Coastside, a drug abuse treatment center in Half Moon Bay. "I don't like to see any kids go to juvenile hall," she said. "The police department and the Sheriff's department are very pro-treatment in my experience with them," she said. In her five years working on the coast, she's seen and worked through many of the drug battles facing teenagers. "We get quite a few adolescents that have experimented with methamphetamine, and to me that is a problem," she said. "The scary thing about methamphetamine is how it damages a young person's brain," Tomlinson said. "It's a dangerous drug." Like Tomlinson, Principal Louis Matteucci at Baden High School, said marijuana and alcohol are the most prevalent among his students. While he considers student drug use a problem, Matteucci emphasized his confidence in the police liaison who builds relationships with students on campus. Educating students about the perils of drug use is just the beginning, however. Teachers and school administrators have much to learn as well. The Sheriff's Office held a meeting with faculty at Half Moon Bay High School before the current academic year began, said Don Prestosz, who teaches economics and government to 12th-graders. "They told us what to look for," he said. "They showed us how kids are using them." Larkin Evans, who teaches art classes at all levels, said she knows drugs are on campus, but thinks the problem has improved. "It's really so much better than it was," she said. "I am able to get my job done better than I ever have." She attributes that shift to the stronger police presence on campus. She said she appreciates what she called a tougher response by the school's administration. That police presence falls mainly on the shoulders of one man, Officer Dennis Loubal. Among other duties, he works at the high school as a police liaison. The job involves talking frankly with students about drug use, and when necessary, lecturing those he thinks may be slipping away. Most of all, Evans said she's glad to see the problem being discussed openly without fear of reprisal from the administration, something she says wasn't always allowed in the past. No one is suggesting the problem is unique to Half Moon Bay High School. "In all parts of society there are drugs out there and schools aren't immune to that," said Trisha Sanchez, commander of the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force. The task force also offers classes to school administrators, educators and counselors to better equip them with the knowledge required to address drug problems at schools, Sanchez said. Through these classes, school officials typically learn what the trends are and how to identify drug problems among students, she said. "I'd like to say there aren't any narcotics at schools, but the reality is that it's systemic," Sanchez said. Home