SAND SPRINGS — At its Sept. 1 meeting, the Sand Springs Board of Education approved a Providence Working Canines Program Retainer agreement.
The agreement with Providence Working Canines of Tulsa covers the entire district, but contraband detection dogs will primarily be used at secondary schools, including the middle school, Charles Page High School and Page Academy.
Superintendent Sherry Durkee recently discussed the canine program with Ryan Bivin, Principal at Charles Page High School on the school district’s podcast Sandite Chat.
“I think as we were doing our research over the years, it was, in my mind anyway and I believe yours too, it was a drug dog program,” Bivin said “And that's not really what it is. They don’t even call them drug dogs. They're working canines. And so yes, they do hit on drugs, but they also hit on weapons and things of that nature. And so, it's comprehensive, it's a piece of a larger plan. And as we've done research over the years, you've seen that, I've seen that, and I've become more comfortable with it. And I believe everybody else will too once they see it's part of a bigger process.”
Durkee told Bivin the canines used in the program come from the retriever dog lineage.
“And they're very nice dogs. You can pet them. They're not attack dogs,” Bivin said. “And so I think the way that they alert could be different based on dog and trainer because they are trained together and they are certified together, dog and trainer. And so, I think it could look different, but it's not going to be a bark. It's not going to be a scratch at you or anything like that. I think it's going to be a very subtle alert. And typically, they're not alerting on people either. And that's another important thing to know there.”
Durkee said the canine program is separate from the district’s School Resource Officer program.
“In no way is this program connected to our SRO program that's in relationship with the Sand Springs Police Department,” she said.
Bivin said the canine program is designed as prevention.
“The idea is to not catch people. The idea is for people not to bring things to school that are illegal. And it's all about student safety and the learning environment,” he said. “My goal is to protect the learning environment so students can come to school, feel comfortable, feel safe, and learn at their best ability.”
Bivin said the canines and trainers will come to the school district randomly.
“So, we have a calendar, we have blackout dates on it, and then they randomly show up,” he said. “I won't even know when they're coming. They show up and say, 'We're here. We're ready to work.”
Bevin said the canines and trainers will search school parking lots.
“I think the main thing that they're going to be searching is parking lots. We're going to be going through the parking lots, checking cars,” he said. “Again, this is a process to deter people from bringing it on campus. So be random searches through the parking lot, even by rows, by parts of the parking lot, we don't get to pick that. They do it randomly. Even skipping rows, skipping cars, it's completely random.”
Bivin said the canines and trainers will also be searching school buildings.
“They will come into the building as well and check out mainly bathrooms, hallways. The dogs can scent things even up into the ceiling tiles,” he said. “And so, they can have a good nose for this. And so again, drugs, weapons, other things like that. So not a gotcha thing.”
Durkee said the canine program will help to try and keep school campuses drug free.
“I'd like for them not to do it anywhere, but certainly don't bring it to school,” she said. “I mean, we would like to say we have a drug-free environment without any kind of temptation of what might be available. And so that really, for me, was a big selling point.”
Bivin said the canines can smell drugs that a human can’t.
“I think it's also important to understand the drug scene has changed over the recent years to where a human can't smell the drugs that people are using now. Sometimes they're odorless, but the dogs can,” he said. “This is a way to get the drugs out of the building. And that's the whole goal.”
Durkee said the school district has started an elementary school puppy program.
She said the Providence trainers will go into elementary schools and teach the purpose of their canine program services.
Bivin said the puppy program is a great addition to the school district.
“I think it is great,” he said. “I think it is going to be new to us. It's going to be new to our families. We're not trying to scare anybody. We want to be very open and honest about what's going on. And I think getting the puppies down into the elementary schools where it is just going to be second nature to us in the long run. And I love that they go down to the elementary (level).”