Article

Kids yanked on suspicion of alcohol but parents say blood tests negative
Tuesday, June 13, 2006 • BY CLAIRE HEININGER • Star-Ledger Staff

For 13 North Hunterdon High School students, prom memories won't be all tuxedoes and corsages and good times with their friends.

They also will include accusations of drinking, blood tests and a controversy at the Bridgewater Marriott that required police response.

The 13 students were forced to leave the North Hunterdon prom Friday night amid suspicions that they had been drinking, officials said. The students denied being under the influence of alcohol, and their parents joined the protest after they were called to retrieve their children, parents and police said yesterday.

Additional Bridgewater police officers were called "to maintain peace" as a shouting match ensued between school administrators and the students and parents, said Bridgewater Deputy Chief Robert Szkodny.

The parents were told that the only way their kids would be let back into the prom was by submitting to a blood test at a local hospital to prove they were sober. But by the time the tests were administered, it was too late -- the prom was over.

"My daughter did take the test and it came up negative," said Edward Fol, a parent of one of the students. "She's falsely accused."

Now the parents want a public apology and may also seek reimbursement from the school for prom expenses that ranged from $70 tickets to $450 dresses, parents said. They plan to address the district's school board about their concerns next week.

"The school said if we did not go to the hospital and get the blood tests done, that they (the students) would not join in any senior activities, not be able to go back to school, and not graduate," said parent Joan Lauyer, who said her daughter's blood test also proved the teen had not been drinking. "They didn't check to see if they were walking straight, didn't smell their breath, didn't look at their eyes, they just accused them ... they didn't even have a chance."

Test results for the other students were not known.

However, the students, 12 seniors and a junior, are still attending school while the incident is under investigation by the district, said North Hunterdon Principal Michael Hughes. He said he was present during the confrontation, but refused to comment further, saying he didn't want "to confuse the incident."

While concern about prom-night alcohol and drug abuse has prompted high schools locally and nationally to implement safety measures like random searches and on-site Breathalyzer tests, Hughes said North Hunterdon is not yet among them.

With no way to administer blood alcohol tests at the prom site -- Bridgewater police said officers working the event also did not carry portable testing equipment -- students had to be tested at the hospital, an ordeal that lasted until 2 a.m., students and parents said.

The trouble started when a chaperone pulled the teens aside after finding an empty water bottle smelling of alcohol under the table where the group of accused students was sitting, according to a Bridgewater police report.

The students were pulled from the dance, taken into an adjacent room and questioned by school officials, who called their parents to pick them up, the report states. The students maintain they hadn't been drinking and weren't responsible for the water bottle.

"Nobody was at the table for a long period of time," said one 17-year-old senior in the group, whose parents asked that she not be identified. "People who weren't really assigned to our table were sitting at it, ... (so) we were saying, 'Can you even prove that?'"

Hughes said the incident has prompted North Hunterdon to consider obtaining oral fluid swab tests for use at future events. The tests, currently used by Hunterdon Central High School and others, can be obtained through the state for $1.80 per kit, said David Evans, executive director of the Flemington-based Drug-Free Schools Coalition.

"You can do 100 kids for $180," Evans said, adding he also recommends using the "smell test" on students' breath as they enter dances and asking parents to sign alcohol-free party pledges. "I don't think most kids resent (testing). I think they understand it and respect it and know it's for their own protection."

Delaware Valley Regional High School, also in Hunterdon County, became the first local school to use a random testing program at its prom in the 1999-2000 school year. The district uses a computer-generated list to determine which students will get a Breathalyzer test. Small cash prizes are awarded to students who come up clean -- which so far has meant everyone, said Principal Brian Fogelson.

"We've never had a student come up positive on the Breathalyzer," Fogelson said yesterday. "We've had no alcohol-related incidents since we started the Breathalyzer ... I think it's been very effective."

At Hunterdon Central Regional High School, administrators pocket a "little care package" containing the swab tests for use at events like the prom and football games, said Vice Principal Richard Schneebeli.

North Hunterdon parents upset about the early end to Friday's prom for their children plan to meet with school officials to voice their lingering concerns, parent Andrea Marsh said.

"We're really trying to resolve this for the benefit of the kids," she said.

Following the incident, Bridgewater police sought the names of the students, but were told by school officials that the incident "was not a police matter" and that administrators "will handle this matter in-house," according to the police report.

Three police officers initially were providing security at the dance, Szkodny said. Five to six additional officers responded as the argument between parents and administrators became heated, Szkodny said.

North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District Superintendent Charles Shaddow could not be reached for comment.

A prom night ends in charges and counter-charges

Return to Articles page