Trustees Back Drug Search on Buses : Program: The Orange Unified School District board votes to keep using a dog to sniff for illegal substances on its vehicles, despite opposition from parents.

The controversial use of a dog to search school buses for drugs will continue, Orange Unified School District trustees voted Thursday night.

Although several parents expressed opposition to the program, trustees were united in support of the policy, which began in October. The parents were among a capacity audience for the meeting at district headquarters.

“As a parent of two elementary-aged children, will I ever be comfortable allowing my children to use district buses?” Sheryl Fleming asked the school board. “You had an obligation to warn parents. Since parents in this district pay for transportation, don’t they have a right to decide?”

Police Chief John R. Robertson acknowledged that the policy was somewhat extreme but defended its use.

“We recognized our solution was unusual, but we felt the situation was unusual,” Robertson said. “We would never check buses or lockers without the approval of the district.”

Since October, three buses carrying students from Orange schools have been searched by the district’s drug-sniffing dog, but no drugs were found. The searches have been billed by Acting Supt. Richard Donoghue as an attempt to curtail the carrying of illegal substances onto school properties.

The first search was conducted Oct. 30 on a bus bound for Santiago Middle School and El Modena High School. It was prompted by parent complaints about drug use on the bus, said Joyce Capelle, the district’s chief financial officer.

Later the same day, a bus leaving Orange High School was stopped by police and district officials. No further searches took place until Dec. 16, when a bus carrying children from Portola Middle School was stopped.

Under terms of the policy, only students’ belongings and the contents of the buses are searched. The children, some of whom have been as young as 11 years old, are not physically searched.

Donoghue said Thursday night that he had informed board members of the searches.

“I did mention it at one board meeting, but it was at the end of the meeting and maybe not everyone was paying attention,” he said.

But board President Lila Beavans said: “I would have preferred to see this issue highlighted in an open-session board meeting.”

The Orange school district is responsible for educating nearly 25,000 students from kindergarten through the 12th grade in Orange and Villa Park, and in parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Garden Grove. The district transports 4,500 children to school on 68 buses every day.