Pubdate: Mon, 09 Jan 2006
Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
Copyright: 2006 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: William F. West

PARENTS COMPLAIN OF DRUGS AT SCHOOL

CREEDMOOR -- Parents who say the South Granville High School 
administration is unresponsive to the presence of illegal narcotics 
on campus have taken their complaints to the town's chief executive.

Granville County Schools Public Information Officer Jan Allen said 
every tip received is investigated, and added that she is willing to 
work with local officials.

Information from parents and pupils is especially helpful to the 
safety of the facility located along N.C. 56 northeast of downtown, she said.

"If there's a drug problem in Creedmoor, then South Granville High 
School is a part of that community," she said. "So, therefore, we 
take this problem seriously."

Creedmoor Mayor Darryl Moss said he met last month with 15 to 20 
parents at an unofficial assembly hosted at the town hall.

According to Moss, the gathering was fueled by the fact that more 
than a few parents were unhappy about not having the chance to speak 
at what they believed was a stage-managed meeting at the school in 
late October about missing mercury.

The friction came after approximately 7 ounces of the silvery metal 
liquid was pilfered by an undisclosed number of students and also 
taken from the building by two students.

But Moss said he believes the straw that broke the camel's back came 
at a parent advisory council meeting in mid-November when school 
officials silenced further discussions surfacing about drugs on campus.

The mayor said he previously met with the county's top educators, 
including County Schools Superintendent Tom Williams.

Moss said the stories he heard were about potential drop-offs of 
substances from dealers in the parking lot before, during and after school.

He said parents told him about a trail between South Granville High 
and adjacent Creedmoor Elementary School being a place for drug use.

The drug subject came up again Saturday afternoon toward the end of a 
two-day meeting of Creedmoor commissioners and department leaders in 
which they discussed numerous items and plans.

"Part of the concern that I have is that the Creedmoor Police 
Department is being held accountable for this," Moss said afterward. 
"And we're not being offered an opportunity to get in there and do 
the type of things that need to be done to address it."

When asked why, he said, "That I can't answer right at this moment, 
but we have not gotten the answers to that."

Asked what school officials told him, he replied, "That we don't have 
a problem."

Since the school year began in August, the school district's Allen 
said, there have been five cases involving marijuana.

She said one person was arrested and that four students were placed 
in a mental health program specializing in treating those with 
substance abuse problems.

By this time during the previous school year, three students were 
involved in such occurrences, she said.

In addition, Allen said, at the beginning of last month, Creedmoor 
police officers and Granville County Sheriff's deputies conducted a 
random inspection of classrooms and lockers.

No evidence of any illegal drugs was found, she said.

Still, Moss maintains this is only scratching the tip of the iceberg.

The school has a resource officer with the authority to call for 
assistance from police.

Allen said she believes the schools have a good relationship with the 
officers and law enforcement has a strong presence at South Granville High.

At the same time, monitoring all the students is difficult because 
there are approximately 100 faculty and staff and more than 1,200 students.

"But I'll tell you our one best way of improving or finding out about 
any kind of possession of drugs on our campus is students," Allen 
said. "They are our best, best resources."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman