Police dogs have been giving students an extra reason to keep drugs out of local schools and soon might be going to another district.

Drug-sniffing dogs already have been used in Baldwin and Brentwood high schools and officials in the West Jefferson Hills School District are considering a plan.

Jefferson Hills police chief Marty Reagan said police and school officials are discussing the use of an occasional dog patrol at Thomas Jefferson High School as part of a comprehensive plan for school district-police department cooperation.

"We're in the initial phases of it, so there are a lot of details to work out," Reagan said. "When you put a policy in place, you have to put terms into it to make sure it's right for the district. Everybody must be on board and must understand the expectations.

"As far as utilizing the K9s for school searches, it is going to be part of that comprehensive plan and will be laid out."

Reagan said he is unsure of when the comprehensive plan will be completed.

Last year, the Baldwin-Whitehall school board authorized Whitehall police to bring in a dog for Baldwin High School.

Police have had a presence in district schools for several years, and bringing in the dog is an expansion of that.

"A request came to us years ago to open up the schools for officers to walk through the building when their shifts permitted, just to be visible," said Randal Lutz, acting superintendent for Baldwin-Whitehall.

"Allowing the dogs to come in lets the students see what occurs, and also gives the officers training and practice when appropriate."

Lutz said administrators were in favor of allowing the dog in the school because they hoped it would serve as a deterrent.

The decision to allow the dogs was not a response to a particular problem, he said.

"Let's be realistic. Teenage children experiment, and to say there is a high school in any city within the United States with students not experimenting with illegal substances would be naive," Lutz said.

"We have this resource to come in at random, which is set up between the police and administration."

Lutz declined to comment on how many times a police dog has entered the district buildings but said no contraband has been found.

"We're not broadcasting what we are doing, but we're also not looking to catch kids doing wrong," Lutz said.

"We're monitoring the building. It's a positive thing and a necessary step in the right direction and a continuation between the police and district."

Whitehall police chief Donald Dolfi said using police dogs in schools is not a new practice.

Although the dogs do not find much, there are several advantages to the program.

Dolfi said the school setting provides a real-world training environment for dogs and handlers, and allows them to practice procedures and fine-tune their routine.

Aside from giving police the opportunity to find any illegal substances in schools, it also serves to let the community know police are making sure drugs are kept out of schools, Dolfi said.

"Adding the use of the dog in with the school, its policies and curriculum makes the total package," Dolfi said.

"It helps us make an effort to stop or prevent any illegal substances from coming into the schools, providing students a safer environment to develop and learn."

Brentwood Superintendent Ronald Dufalla said using dogs in schools adds an extra level of security.

"It's always advantageous to have them come through to make sure there isn't anything that shouldn't be there," Dufalla said.

"Over the years, there may have been some hits on the lockers, but there wasn't much there."

Dufalla declined to comment on whether school officials would continue to allow the practice.

"I don't want to have a level of predictability," Dufalla said.

"But that is something we continually look at when the resources are available."