This is a train-wreck:
https://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/news/2016/may/19/parents-administrator-ruined-2016-prom/By Bridget Ortigo
May 19, 2016HALLSVILLE - Some Hallsville High School parents demanded an apology and investigation from administration at Monday's board of trustees meeting after they said an assistant principal's actions "ruined" their daughters' high school prom experience on April 30.
Six Hallsville High School female students, some of whom are graduating seniors, were told they must submit to Breathalyzer testing at the school's junior/senior prom after an administrator said she received a "tip" that the group had been drinking before their arrival.
"We want the district to know, we aren't against Breathalyzer testing," Parent Scott Hawthorne said Monday. "Nobody wants these kids to be safe on prom night more than their parents do. We are taking issue with the way it was handled."
The group of six girls tested for alcohol consumption by Hallsville ISD police were part of a larger group of 20 male and female students whose parents chartered a private bus for the festive night from Platinum Limos in Shreveport.
The group had dinner at Enoch's Stomp and Winery before arriving at the prom.
"They got there (to prom) at about 9 p.m. because their dinner reservations at Enoch's ran late," Regina Rawls said Monday. "They were only at prom about 10 minutes before Assistant Principal Cari Bailey came and pulled just those six girls off of the dance floor and told them they had to come with her for a Breathalyzer because she got a tip from another student that their whole group had been at the winery drinking."
Wineries, like restaurants, are not legally allowed to sell or distribute alcohol to minors under the age of 21 in Texas.
"If you got a tip, which I don't think there even was a tip, I think this was premeditated by Bailey, but if you got a tip that a group of 20 boys and girls had been drinking, why wouldn't you test some of the boys too," Rawls said. "It was just our girls and they were targeted on purpose. That assistant principal has targeted my daughter and others in the group for years."
Bailey did not respond to a call for comment on Wednesday.
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After all of the girls blew a 0.00 on the Breathalyzer, the administrators called the charter bus driver, who was no longer at the school, to come back to the school and submit to a vehicle search of his bus," Hawthorne said. "They had all just passed the Breathalyzer showing no alcohol in their system. Why search the bus?
I don't know if the Hallsville ISD police had a warrant to search his bus."
Rawls said the six girls were made to wait outside the school with the administrators and Hallsville ISD police until the bus driver returned and a search was completed.
No alcohol was found on the charter bus, Hawthorne said.
Platinum Limos manager Candice Moore said this was the company's first time to ever have one of their vehicles searched by police.
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I don't believe a search warrant was presented to our driver," Moore said Tuesday. "There was no alcohol on the bus.
If our driver did consent for the search, he probably felt like he had no other option but to consent. He probably wasn't really sure what the protocol is."
The charter bus driver did not respond to calls for comment on Wednesday.
According to the Texas Attorney General School Safety Handbook, "School officials may search a student's vehicle that is parked on school property if they have a reasonable suspicion that a search of the vehicle will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating a law or a school rule. The scope of the search and the way it is conducted must be reasonable in light of all the circumstances that gave rise to the reasonable suspicion for the search."
The law does not specifically address the search of a vehicle that is no longer on school property and is not driven by a student.
Hallsville ISD Police Chief Terry Turner, district spokeswoman Carol Greer, high school Principal John Martin and Hallsville ISD Superintendent Jeff Collum did not respond Wednesday to questions about the district or school's policy regarding non-student vehicle searches.
They also would not comment on the type of Breathalyzer used to test students at prom, how a positive alcohol testing is handled and if parents are typically notified of testing at the student's request.
Turner, Greer, Collum and Martin also did not respond to say whether
there was probable cause or a search warrant obtained to search the bus after the girls showed no sign of alcohol in their systems following the Breathalyzer testing.
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Between the Breathalyzers, which one girl was tested twice even though she blew a 0.00 both times, and then the bus search, this all took about an hour," Rawls said. "The girls said
the cops were even pulling down stored champagne glasses that belonged to the charter company and sniffing them to see if they smelled like alcohol.
This is after they all blew 0.00. The girls asked for their parents to be called during this and the police and principals wouldn't let them."
The parents said after the students were made to submit to the tests and searches in front of other incoming and outgoing prom goers, the girls were too upset to stay at the event and left early.
"For me, my worst nightmare just happened," Rawls said. "My daughter was at a controlled situation (the prom dance) and left, upset. Now where is she going to go or what is she going to do? Between all 20 of us parents, we spent more than $25,000 on prom and our kids got to enjoy it for 10 minutes."
Hawthorne said the girls should have been checked for impairment first before being subjected to Breathalyzer testing and never should have had to wait through a vehicle search after passing a breathalyzer.
"They can't ever get that night back," prom volunteer and mother Candy Henderson said Monday. "Some of them were seniors and this was their last prom. You always remember your prom and now this is what they will remember - being humiliated. It breaks my heart."
The parents said they want a full investigation, an apology and a policy drawn up regarding Breathalyzer testing to prevent this from happening again in the future to other students.
"I love Hallsville ISD. This is the best district for my children to be at," Rawls said. "This was one administrator, known for targeting student athletes, abusing her power. We all knew, when we heard that Breathalyzer testing would be at prom, we all knew our kids would be pulled out and tested no matter what, by her. We just didn't know it would all be handled this poorly."
Collum did not say whether the school had a specific policy regarding prom Breathalyzer testing.
"We don't need a policy on breathalyzer testing because we have a zero drug and alcohol tolerance policy across the district," Collum said Monday. "We will re-evaluate our district and campus policies regarding prom events and see if we need to revise anything in the future."
Collum defended the actions of the Hallsville ISD police and high school administrators, saying staff must act on every tip.
"When administrators get information, they have a responsibility to investigate and that's what they did," Collum said.
Hawthorne said what the administrators did was excessive.
"Other schools in the area that do Breathalyzer testing at prom use it as a deterrent, not a gotcha," he said. "They make sure all of the students know they could be randomly chosen for testing and they make sure it's truly a random process. Some schools test every tenth student that enters, some have a bag of poker chips at the entrance and you pull one as you go in and if it's a certain color, you get tested."
Parent Misty Johnson said she is also upset that parents weren't notified, before, during, or after the testing and search, even though the girls were requesting their parents to be notified. She said one parent even tried to enter the room where the students were being held during testing and she was not allowed inside.
Johnson, whose daughter was one of the six girls required to submit to a Breathalyzer, was working as a parent volunteer at the prom.
Newly elected Board President Jay Nelson told Hawthorne after his public comment during the meeting that the board would look into the incident.
"We will take these comments into consideration and if any policies need to be updated, we will look into that," Nelson said.
