Since Sandy Hook, DHS students are used to lockdown drills. But on Tuesday, March 28, the administration added a twist to the drill — police K-9 units conducted a school-wide drug search.

Principal Dan Donovan said in an interview afterward that no drugs were found, but that it was a good practice exercise.

“We had a total of 15 dogs searching the campus,” Donovan said. “[Danbury’s] canine unit does not have enough dogs to search the entire school and to help us with the search, the surrounding towns’ units joined us.”

Before the school went into lockdown, police cruisers marked with K-9 unit decals rolled up in front of the school.

Donovan announced the lockdown Period 3. Some students had seen the cruisers or the dogs before the lockdown was announced, and texts among the student body soon spread the word. Plus the dogs could be heard barking.

When searching, trained dogs can only last for about 20 minutes until they get tired and they can no longer distinguish scents. The 15 dogs in the school split up to two on each level and one searching the boys and girls bathrooms.

After Donovan and the high school’s administration attended Brookfield High School’s drug search they were inspired to follow its steps. The administration announced last spring that it planned to conduct such a search, and plans were formulated in November.

“We are actually the last school in the area to finally do a drug search,” Donovan said. Danbury, although the largest high school in the state with a student body of 3,200, had been reluctant to conduct dog searches.

Donovan said the police agencies involved were pleased with the search and the discipline shown by staff and students during the lockdown, which was followed by a shelter-in-place announcement. This means lights can be turned back on, teaching and learning can resume, but the classroom door must remain closed and locked with students remaining in place.

Donovan said the administration plans to have more searches. With the apparent rise of drug use in the building, particularly marijuana use, it is becoming more necessary to conduct such searches.

“[Searches] definitely will not be every week,” Donovan said. “However, there will be more events like this in the future.”

The administration is even formulating plans to search beyond the halls of the school since many students do not use their lockers. The plan is to search in student’s backpacks and cars because if there are drugs to be found, it’s more likely that they will be found there.

If students are caught with drugs, the DHS Discipline Code goes into effect. They could face a minimum of 10-day suspension and arrest, along with the possibility of expulsion and time in drug education with the school’s crisis counselor.

“It is just one more step to make the school a safer place,” Donovan said.