School boards owe a duty of care to students while they are at school, or attending school-related activities. This duty of care will be owed to students attending a dance hosted by the school board. The standard of care is that of a careful, or prudent, parent.
In most cases, staff supervising the dance can rely on their own observations, or information received from credible sources, to determine that a student has consumed alcohol or drugs.
If you have reasonable grounds to suspect a student has breached a school rule, and a search would provide evidence of the breach, a search of a student may be conducted by the administration, following the general principles of search and seizure. Asking a student to blow into an alcohol detection device (breathalyzer) constitutes a “search” for which the principal must have reasonable grounds to administer. The grounds could be based on the principal’s observations of the student (balance, breath, speech) and/or reliable third-party information. See Search and Seizure #3 regarding the use of breathalyzers. As noted above, the principal’s observations and conclusions based on credible evidence are sufficient to support a decision to exclude a student from participation in a school event for reasons of impairment.
Failure to supervise adequately a person under the member’s professional supervision is a ground for professional misconduct. The students attending a school dance must be supervised adequately; so too must the staff attending a school dance.
Practical Tips
- Clarify, know, and follow board policy, and confirm past practice with your SO.
- Consider all of the risks inherent in hosting a school dance in determining whether to authorize such an event.
- Include rules and expectations for school dances and consequences for their breach in the student handbook and review with staff and students.
- Communicate rules and consequences to parents/guardians well in advance of the event.
- Instruct staff about their roles and duties during the dance and your expectations for their comportment (no drinking pre-event or at dance).
- Monitor students entering the dance for signs of impairment.
- Monitor staff conduct.
- Direct and supervise off-duty officers.
- If students are identified as having consumed alcohol and they are under 18
- immediately call parent/guardian
- detain student in a safe place and arrange or ensure safe transportation home
- if student resists intervention or leaves premises, call the police and
- if student passes out or displays signs of serious illness, call an ambulance.
(Source: Save the Last Dance For Me, Alcohol and School Dances. Tips from the Trenches)