GILROY
– Contrary to its publicized plan, the Gilroy High School
administration did not require all students to pass a breathalyzer
test before entering Saturday’s junior prom at Eagle Ridge Golf
Club.
GILROY – Contrary to its publicized plan, the Gilroy High School administration did not require all students to pass a breathalyzer test before entering Saturday’s junior prom at Eagle Ridge Golf Club.
Instead, as in previous years, the Gilroy Police Department only gave the tests to students who arrived late to the prom or had the smell of alcohol on their breath.
No underage drinking tickets were given to any of the 200 to 250 students who attended the prom, according to police.
“(The school administered the breathalyzers), but not with all students,” said GHS Assistant Principal Joni Madolora, who oversaw the use of the breathalyzers. “(The breathalyzers were) used randomly and by discretion.”
Madolora said the change in process was not based on parent complaints, and GHS Principal Bob Bravo said the school never planned on screening every student who entered the prom, only that it had enough breathalyzers to test everyone if needed.
“From my point of view the plan wasn’t ever switched,” Bravo said. “We never planned to test everyone.”
On Friday, however, Madolora said she advised student leaders that all students going to the junior prom would have to pass a breathalyzer before they entered.
Madolora said Tuesday morning that the decision to only test the students who came late and those who appeared under the influence of alcohol was not a reaction to parents’ complaints about the publicized screening plan.
She also said a similar plan to the one that played out Saturday night will be in place for the senior prom scheduled for May 31.
“I don’t think any of the kids minded too much, but if they did do random screening with no reasonable cause it would seem like a privacy issue to me,” said School Board member John Gurich, whose son attended the GHS junior prom Saturday. “I hope the school does not decide to randomly screen in the future.”
Staff Writer Eric Leins contributed to this story.
