Although the Cooperstown Central School board of education will continue to look into having canine searches, the idea of surveillance cameras does not seem to be an option the district will pursue.

A forum to discuss the canine searches will be scheduled after winter vacation, said Superintendent Mary Jo McPhail.

Rosemary Craig, chairwoman of the school board policy committee, reported last week that the committee was looking into using surveillance cameras at the school.

"I don't see a need per se," she commented. "But I'm definitely open to new ideas that could help us to do things better."

"It isn't anything I am going to recommend to the board at this time," McPhail said.

BOCES Policy Service suggested the policy committee look into it, said McPhail. She said BOCES often provides the board with research, laws and drafts of policies.

"It is mostly to monitor entrances," she said. "It serves as a precautionary device when school is closed."

After speaking with a vender, McPhail said the process to buy and install the cameras would be "extremely costly."

"At this point in time, we are probably not going to move forward with that," she said.

A list of members for the canine search forum is currently being created by the administration. Craig reported recently that the forum would include members of the health advisory board, police officials, a legal representative, parents and students.

Students will be chosen by the student council, said McPhail.

Canine searches were first investigated and eventually turned down by the school board in September of 1999 after more than a year of research, two demonstrations, and two comprehensive surveys. The rationale for the decision was to allow new administration the opportunity to assess the situation.

More recently, during the board meeting in December, the board revisited the idea.

"I think its is timely that we look at it," Craig said. "You do hear about instances at schools."

McPhail said recently there have been issues with illegal substances at CCS, but not an increasing amount.

"We felt it was time to revisit the topic for study purposes and provide a forum for a wide variety of participants to express their viewpoints. We do experience issues engaging in the use and possession of illegal substances. I can't say I feel there has been an increase. I don't feel we are disciplining any more students than we were in the past," said McPhail. "[Canine searches are] intended to be a deterrent. If you know a district has the capability to do that, hopefully it would keep illegal substances out of school."

Eventually a demonstration will be scheduled for the public to observe what a canine search would be like.

It was reported that currently several surrounding schools participate in their canine searches including Cherry Valley-Springfield, Morris, Laurens and Oneonta.

In other news, the board:

BULLET - approved expanding a recently created e-mail correspondence program between the school and the senior class to include students in grades eight through 11.

Susanne Adsit, one of the creators of the project reported to the board that communications that are sent home with students don't always make it to their destination.

"There is a big drop in communication. I think [e-mail] would improve communications between the parents and the school," she said.

She asked for the boards approval to expand to other grades after reporting how successful the project seemed to be.

"It turned out to be very successful," said Adsit. "The response from parents has been overly positive."

She has been working with high school science teacher Thomas Good, Technical Support Services and Planning with BOCES and the school's technical committee since last September. Currently they are corresponding with half of the senior class through e-mail.

Adsit said that using e-mail to send information is quicker, accurate and decreases the cost of postage and paper.

"Clearly it would help reach the issue where communication drops off," McPhail agreed.