U-Hi to use breath tests at dances

Students at University High School in Spokane Valley will be required to pass a breath test to get into school dances starting next fall.

Students arriving drunk or sneaking alcohol into events has been a problem this year, said Associated Student Body President Brett Vlahovich. “A lot of them have Pepsi bottles, and they had put vodka in the bottles,” he said. “They got a bit tipsy. We’ve also had incidents where students were caught drunk at the door, and they’ve been turned away.”

Vice Principal Paul Danelo brought forward the suggestion to use breath tests to administrators at both Central Valley District high schools and took it to the parent groups and ASB officers for approval. “Over the years, we have issues here and there at some of our functions,” Danelo said. “We were looking for a way to make the environment safer.”

The ASB officers welcomed the idea, Vlahovich said. The student leaders hope it will be a deterrent.

“In theory, it will be a strong preventative measure,” Danelo said. “The way we do it now is we make students walk in between a couple of administrators to get into the dance. We’ll continue to do that.”

The breath test devices are not the ones typically used by police. Instead of breathing into a tube, students simply blow on a device that gives either a positive or negative result. If a test gives a positive result, the student will be sent to the police officers who are at every dance and given a legal breath test. Punishment can range from school discipline to an arrest. “It varies on the situation,” said Danelo. “It can involve both. They’re usually released to their parents.”

Other schools in the area, such as Post Falls High School and Mt. Spokane High School, already have similar programs. “I’ve talked to kids at schools who do it who say they like it because it removes pressure from them to drink before the dance,” Danelo said. “It takes that peer pressure off the kids.”

Post Falls School District Superintendent Jerry Keane said his district has been using breathalyzers for the past couple of years. It all started with a successful drug-free dance sponsored by the Idaho Drug Free Youth that required students to submit to alcohol breath tests to get in the door.

“The high school owns several Breathalyzers, the sophisticated kinds that are instantaneous,” Keane said. “It’s very simplistic, very safe and obviously to get a bunch of kids into the dance, you’ve got to be fast.”

The required breath tests haven’t affected dance attendance, he said. “It was standing-room only – or dancing-room only – at prom.”

So far, not a single student has tested positive. “Kids are pretty smart,” Keane said. “They know these are the rules.”

University High School will buy two breathalyzers for $160 each out of ASB funds, Danelo said. After that, there will be a cost of $50 per dance to pay for cartridges in the units. That money will be paid by the group putting on the dance as a fundraiser.

The success of the program will be evaluated by administrators at Central Valley High School. “We’re probably going to pilot it,” Danelo said. “They’re going to have us do it and see how that goes.

Vlahovich said he supports the program even though he will graduate before it takes effect next fall. “I think it’s a great idea,” he said. If he were subjected to a test, he added, “it wouldn’t bother me whatsoever because I have nothing to hide. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal because, if you have nothing to hide, then nothing will come of it.”

Danelo said it’s only a small minority of the students who are causing the problem. “We want kids to come to our dances and have a good time,” he said. “We’re just trying to do that the best way we can.”