The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office continues its K-9 assisted searches of area schools in an effort to combat illicit drug use and overdose deaths. The latest occurred last week at Point Pleasant Borough High School where students, teachers and even administrators were on lock down as law enforcement officials conducted the operation.

Superintendent Vincent Smith said they worked with the prosecutor's office and local police in planning the search. "We had a chance to visit the school to get a layout of that. We had provided floor plans and different things to the prosecutor's office to make their job easier."

Smith said they did not see the search as an imposition and in fact, welcomed law enforcement efforts. "Prosecutor Coronato's initiative when he took office was to take a hard stance on the drug issue and certainly he wanted to make sure it wasn't getting into the schools and we as a school community fully supported those efforts," explained Smith.

Smith said the search went smoothly, taking a total of 20 minutes from start to finish. He said they were only inside the school building for 10 minutes and they notified parents electronically at the time of the operation.

Lacey Township High School was the first to undergo a K-9 assisted search. Weather permitting, a video will be shown parents in the Point Pleasant School District at Tuesday night's Board of Education Meeting.

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