New Alcohol, Breathalyzer Policy Possible in Smithtown Schools

The proposed a policy involving alcohol and breathalyzer tests during Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, a policy the board of education will vote on May 22.

"Any student for whom there is a reasonable suspicion of the use of alcohol before or during the school day, prior to or during an extra-curricular, interscholastic, or other school-related function, whether condusted on or away from school property, may be required to submit to a breathalyzer test," the policy states.

Tuesday night was the first reading of the policy. The second reading will take place during the May 8 board meeting.

The proposed policy also states that it is not intended to conduct random student testing and if implimented would aim to deter students from using alcohol while at school or school functions.

Following the meeting Superintendent Edward Ehmann said this proposed policy was not based of an incident but rather a want to keep students safe and promote positive decision making.

"We have a lot of deterring kind of assemblies, we try to do our best to get kids to make good decisions, but we felt this is something the board should look through the meetings and see if it's they want to impliment, just another tool in the arsenal to keep kids from doing something inappropriate in school," he said.