The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Last week, school officials asked that we write a story about the use of breathalyzers for random testing of students. We published that story Thursday and it was posted around the school. The Associated Press — which regularly combs the Web sites of its member newspapers for stories of broad interest — picked up the breathalyzer story and distributed it statewide.

I am sure the story worked as an effective deterrent to keep at least some students from either drinking before going to prom events or from showing up at prom events if they had been drinking.

The problem, as we learned yesterday, is that the School Board pulled the plug on the random testing, which no one bothered to tell either the newspaper or the students. That is clear from intern Erin Gleason's account of prom night.

Forgetting for a moment the reservations I have about how the School Board reached this decision without violating the Open Meetings Law, I do not like the way the newspaper was used to promote the random testing and then not informed when the plug was pulled. It's hard not to think we were manipulated, and by extension, so were students.

The good news? Steamboat had a safe, sober prom. That's great. But trust between school officials and students is a fragile thing. In my opinion, this episode did not help.

Scott Stanford, Editor
sstanford@steamboatpilot.com

(970) 871-4221/(970) 291-9278