Students push back on La Cueva drug check

Something was up. As hundreds of seniors shuffled into the gym at La Cueva High School for graduation rehearsal on a Tuesday morning in May, staff members quietly, quickly but quite noticeably began plucking students from the crowd and ordering them to stand against the wall of a walkway above the gym near the entrance doors in full view of their peers.

Most of the students said they were pulled as they entered the gym or in the lines waiting to go in. Two were pulled after they were already seated. One said she was chosen without the teacher making eye contact with her. Several said they were grabbed by the arm. One said he was pulled by the shirt.

All of them say they weren’t told why.

“The teachers were giving all of the kids on the wall a disappointed look, as if we were already proven guilty,” one student said. “Yet we had absolutely no idea what we

had done.”

Eighteen students in all were rounded up — three girls and 15 boys — as their classmates continued to stream in and stare. “I felt humiliated,” one said. What happened next that May 10 morning is detailed in a tort claims notice filed on behalf of nine of the 18 students, in affidavits written by the nine students and in interviews with the students and their parents at an informal meeting at one of the families’ homes this week.

What happened next, they said, was an outrage.

“Our kids were wrongly targeted and profiled, and someone has to stand up and say this is wrong,” said Brian Padilla, whose son was one of the 18 students. “This is for every kid who comes this next year and the next. This is to say that schools cannot act like bullies and then not be held accountable.”

The students said they were herded without explanation into the nurse’s office, escorted by three armed school officers, assistant principal Brett Rimer, activities director Leigh Arnett and others. As the officers guarded the entrance to the small, crowded office, several students said they repeatedly asked why they were there. Several were in tears. Some yelled. A few asked for principal Dana Lee. Two called their parents on their cellphones.

The students were then told they were suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs and would have to be tested before they could return to rehearsal, participate in the honors ceremony that evening, walk the line for graduation the next day or receive their diplomas. They were not told why they had been suspected.

Two school nurses conducted the screenings, which included varying degrees of testing the eyes for dilation and redness, checking pulse and blood pressure, noting odors and behaviors, each result marked on a form the students were not permitted to keep. All 18 passed. “I felt like I was being profiled as a bad kid,” one boy said. “I never had any prior incidents at the school throughout my four years, then to be told that my four years of hard work wouldn’t matter unless we took a drug test — what was La Cueva thinking?”

It’s hard to say what La Cueva officials were thinking.

Through Albuquerque Public Schools spokesman Rigo Chavez, all contacted school and district officials and their attorney declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

But a letter from principal Lee to one of the mothers and responses from APS to an Inspection of Public Records Act filed May 25 from attorney Greg Payne, who represents the nine families, offer us a glimpse into their actions.

In the letter dated May 11, Lee told the mother that several adults and some students brought to her attention their concern that many of the seniors appeared to be under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. The allegation was vague, Lee wrote, so she asked teachers monitoring the rehearsal to pull students who were “questionable” based on eye redness, odor, slurred speech or unstable gait to be assessed by the school nurse. If a student failed the assessment, he or she would be sent home with a parent.

After the assessment, “most” of the students were returned to the rehearsal because the results were not “definitive.”

But the students said none of them was under the influence that morning nor exhibited signs of impairment. They said Lee was not seen at the school that morning. Three parents who arrived at the school shortly after being contacted by their students — one mother who said she remained at the school for nearly an hour — said they wanted to speak with Lee but were told she was not on campus.

The families said they believe students were targeted because some of them have been vocal about concerns at La Cueva. Most of the boys, for example, believe they were pulled in retaliation for their refusal to remain on the varsity football team or run track after issues involving the coach arose. This week, a witness has come forward with knowledge that the boys were targeted for drug testing a day before the rehearsal, Payne said.

In the IPRA response, Lee denied that any student was arbitrarily selected for testing and went on to deny six times that any student was “drug tested” or searched.

Lee also said that none of the records requested would be released either because they are either exempted under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or because they do not exist.

Earlier this month, Payne submitted a letter to APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy in the hope that she would meet with the families and work with them rather than subject APS to another federal lawsuit.

“All they really wanted was an apology and an explanation,” Payne said.

Instead, his office received two letters from the Modrall Sperling Law Firm requesting that he and the families not contact school officials, that they sign authorization forms allowing access to the students’ educational, physical and mental health records and that they preserve all information on the students’ electronic devices, including emails, texts and music playlists, for the past six years.

“It was insulting,” said Stefanie LopezMackaness, whose son is one of the 18. “It was bullying.”

It was enough for the families to decide to go public.

The parents said their sons and daughters are the good kids, the ones who stayed under the radar, stayed out of trouble and worked hard to make it through high school and go on to college. The humiliation they suffered, they said, tainted what should have been a milestone to celebrate.

“They will never get that day back,” said Jim Constand, whose two sons are among the 18. “Something toxic is happening at that school. We are fighting this because we want to be sure no other kid down the line is treated this way.”

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.