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Parkersburg High School drug sweep comes up clean

PARKERSBURG — A surprise sweep of Parkersburg High School Thursday found no drugs and only one violation for tobacco.

Principal Kenny DeMoss said eight dogs from local law enforcement agencies were brought in to sweep the school and look for illegal substances. The students were placed on lockdown during the sweep and remained in classrooms while they placed backpacks in the hallways.

“The whole campus is searched” by the dogs, DeMoss said. “They sniff everything and if we find probable cause to investigate something, that’s when we open a locker, open a backpack or open a vehicle. We can’t look in a vehicle without a student present, but there’s no one allowed in the hallways while the dogs are working.”

DeMoss said the school partners with the Parkersburg Police Department to conduct the sweep, but police don’t let administrators know about the sweep until it is about to happen. DeMoss said he was contacted by law enforcement Thursday morning and told a sweep would occur.

“At 8:30 a.m. we went into lockdown and announced it was not an emergency,” he said.

DeMoss said only one tobacco violation was found and it was due to a container that had residue, not the presence of actual tobacco products.

DeMoss said considering increasing issues of drug use in West Virginia and the Mid-Ohio Valley, he was pleased with Thursday’s results.

“It is a good reflection on our student body and a good reflection on how much our staff and school system push for students to be drug-free,” he said. “From time to time we’re going to do this sort of thing. Today was a good day.”

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