By Scott Brinton
TLC officials say "several" of the 55 Mepham students aboard the bus were visibly drunk. But Mepham Principal John Didden says none of the seniors appeared intoxicated. That, he insists, is why they were allowed to remain at the prom after the alcohol and drugs were discovered on the bus.
TLC officials say their agents inspected the bus after all of the students disembarked. The seniors went into the prom. At that point, Didden says, Mepham officials were unaware of the contraband. Still, all of the students were checked at the door for visible signs of drunkenness, Didden says. Every prom-goer, he says, was examined by three administrators and a class adviser on their way in.
Didden says all of the students were spoken to, allowing school officials to smell their breath and check for slurred speech. All students aboard the bus passed the first inspection and were allowed into the prom.
The principal says TLC officials later approached him to say that a "large quantity" of alcohol had been found on the bus. Didden says that the 55 students were rounded up and checked a second time. He's uncertain precisely what time that second inspection took place. The prom started at 6:30 p.m. He believes the second check occurred around 7:30 p.m. In neither case did any of the students seem drunk, the principal says.
Didden says he introduced himself to the TLC agents 20 minutes before the prom and asked them to alert him about any student substance-abuse problems. Didden and Central District officials say the TLC agents did not point out drunken students nor indicate that any of the students might have been drinking.
TLC officials, however, say they requested that the students be Breathalyzed because students came off the bus clearly inebriated. "We asked for it, and the principal refused," said one knowledgeable TLC source. "This is the only prom that we asked that this be done. This is how outstanding the drunkenness was."
Didden contends that no TLC agent asked him to Breathalyze the students.
According to a Central High School District policy instituted last spring, any student suspected of drinking before the prom is supposed to be given a Breathalyzer test. If the student is found to have been drinking before or during the prom, he or she must be sent home and suspended for five days. In that case, the student would be unable to graduate with his or her class. Additionally, according to the policy, all district students must attend an informational seminar before the prom outlining the rules and sign contracts pledging not to drink or do drugs before or during the prom.
Didden says the policy prohibits him from blanketing a group of students with Breathalyzer tests without probable cause. Because none of the students appeared drunk to him and other officials, he could not administer the test. Additionally, he says, the policy calls for students to be tested if alcohol or drugs are found on them. In this case, however, the contraband wasn't discovered on a particular student, but rather on the bus. Therefore, Didden says, he could not automatically test the students.
The principal believes TLC agents should have held the students on the bus. "If they had kept the kids on the bus, we could have proceeded differently," he says.
Didden says his primary concern at the prom was safety. He says he alerted the 20 Mepham chaperones on hand and the catering staff that contraband was found. "There were no incidents of misbehavior during the prom," the principal says, adding, "We scrutinized the kids the whole night. I don't think I sat down once that night."
Central District officials say they assumed that most of the alcohol and drugs was intended for consumption after the prom. The bus that dropped the students at the prom was supposed to have taken them to a Farmingdale address afterward, according to Didden. He says he alerted Suffolk County police as to the address.
Police impounded the bus on which the contraband was found. The parent who rented the bus was called and asked to come to the prom. She was reluctant to, Didden says. She then became irate that she had to. The mother sent her husband, who arranged for two smaller buses to drive the students away from the prom, Didden says. He does not know where they went from there.
No other parents were called that night to alert them that contraband was found aboard the bus. Didden says he sent a letter home to parents the next day, as well as notified the Bellmore-Merrick Central District administration about the incident.
The principal says, "There were honor roll kids, honor society kids" on the bus. "It was a mixed bag."
Fifth Precinct police arrested the students' bus driver, Thomas Brady, 59, of Howard Beach, Queens, and charged him with prohibited sale of alcohol to minors. Brady says he's innocent. None of the students were charged, nor did they face school or district consequences.
For the Herald's first story on this incident, check out "Drinking bust at the prom" online at www.liherald.com, Bellmore edition.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
