4th amendment is now null and void in high schools. Original Article Dogs will hunt down drugs in high schools Ofelia Madrid and Anne Ryman The Arizona Republic May. 11, 2005 12:00 AM Drug-sniffing dogs will begin roaming Scottsdale high schools as early as this fall. The Scottsdale School Board voted 4-1 on Tuesday to use the canines for random searches, a response to an investigation by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who said a drug ring was targeting Scottsdale students because of their wealth. "It sends a message that drugs aren't allowed on campus," board member Molly Holver said. But board member Eric Meyer, who cast the dissenting vote, disagreed. "It doesn't deter drug use. It deters keeping drugs in their locker," he said. The random searches will occur while students are in class and could begin as soon as August. The dogs will be used primarily to search school lockers. Scottsdale isn't the first district to use dogs to combat drugs. The Paradise Valley School District in northeast Phoenix had drug-sniffing dogs on its high school campuses in the late 1990s, but officials later stopped the searches after they failed to turn up drugs. Arpaio on Tuesday said he is glad to see Scottsdale school officials taking steps to combat drugs, but he believes the real solution is random, voluntary drug-testing of students with the parents' permission, an idea he first raised in March. "I think we have to look further than dogs searching some foot locker," he said. The Scottsdale Police Department has agreed to conduct the searches at the four high schools in Scottsdale: Chaparral, Desert Mountain, Saguaro and Coronado. District officials said they plan to talk to Phoenix police about conducting searches at Arcadia High School, which is part of the district but within Phoenix city limits. In addition, the Scottsdale School District also plans to phase in a new drug-prevention curriculum this fall. In March, Arpaio announced the results of a months-long investigation into a drug ring that sold heroin, cocaine and marijuana to current and former Scottsdale students. Deputies arrested 14 undocumented immigrants suspected of selling drugs, and eight teens face drug charges. Working through informants, the Sheriff's Office also identified the names of 146 students and former students who were suspected of using or selling drugs.