Youths caught in drug search

Two sixth-grade students at Sisters Middle School were suspended for 10 days after school officials found what was alleged to be a marijuana pipe in their possession on Friday, February 6.

According to Principal Rich Shultz, a drug sniffing dog was used to find the paraphernalia as students left for a school ski outing.

"I did a search of the ski bus," Shultz said. "I had heard rumors that we were having some abuse in our program, so I brought a drug dog in."

Sheriff's deputies were notified, but they did not cite the youths. According to Sergeant Rich Shawver of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Department, the students were not violating any statutes by having the pipe and they were not found to have any drugs.

Possessing drug paraphernalia is, however, a violation of strict school policies.

"It's really important that we have a zero-tolerance approach to (drugs) so that the kids know that that's definitely not okay," said schools superintendent Steve Swisher.

Swisher cautioned against being "lulled to sleep" by Sisters' small-town atmosphere, noting that drugs are to be found everywhere.

Sergeant Shawver acknow-ledged that there is some drug activity in Sisters.

"Yes, there's narcotics activity going on," Shawver said. "I don't believe it's real high level. It's very tough to get inside these transactions... because they know us," Shawver said.

The incident has raised concern among parents. Shultz said there is a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 24, 7 p.m., at the middle school, to discuss how parents and schools can improve communication and keep an eye on a potential problem.

Shultz emphasized that all parents are welcome at the meeting.