The principal of a Junior High School in CNMI says the presence of drug dogs in schools will hopefully discourage students from bringing drugs on campus.
The CNMI's Education Commissioner Dr. Rita Sablan is asserting the Public School Systems' zero tolerance policy on illegal drug possession and marijuana use at all its campuses.
Unannounced drug checks are to occur in all public high school and junior high schools using the Department of Customs' detective dogs in the searches throughout the next school year.
The principal of Admiral Hopwood Junior High School, Jonas Barcinas says there have been a number of students found with drugs at schools.
"We don't really know how kids engage in this activity in a large campus, they have their own cliques, they have their own activity within themselves. Having to bring the canine in, kids will eventually start waking up and start seeing and understanding that there is somebody coming in to clean up all this mess on campus."
Jonas Barcinas says the message to students is that they come to school to learn, and teachers want them to be successful in what they do.
