Students' Text Messages Probed In Drug Case At Stevenson High School
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. (CBS) -- Drug peddling and abuse are the focuses of an investigation underway at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire and authorities have been reading students' text messages as part of the case.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports, at least one student has been arrested and others have been suspended in connection with the investigation, which spokesman Jim Conrey says began in December.
"Many students around the school knew this was going on even before it became known publicly," he said.
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That's because police and staff have seized phones from students suspected of drug involvement to check their text messages.
Conrey said District 125 is on firm legal ground, and that multiple rulings allow school administration and police to seize cell phones on campus if they believe the students are involved in illegal activity.
"This situation is unusual because it involves more students than usual," he said.
Some parents had been upset about learning about the investigation through the media, but on Wednesday. Dist. 125 Supt. Eric Twadell issued a statement in which he says the school takes the matter "very seriously."
"We actively investigate potential instances of student misconduct including, but not limited to, the selling, purchasing, possessing, using or distributing of impairing or intoxicating substances, or participating in a plan to do so," he wrote.
Twadell said in the statement that drug counseling will be offered to those who students who want it and their families.
