KEOSAUQUA — The Van Buren County school district has implemented the use of Passive Alcohol Sensors to detect alcohol use at different school events.

According to the testing protocol that was given to the school board, passive alcohol testing will only be done when a resource officer has a reasonable suspicion that a subject has consumed alcohol or is under the influence of alcohol. The sensors are attached to items like flashlights.

“Behavior keys everything,” said Reserve Officer Don Pool. If there is a positive reading, then the person is watched by an officer for 10 -15 minutes and a breath sample is taken.

One of the reasons for the sensors, Secondary Principal Jeff Miller said, was that several students were reported to have been at a football game this fall drinking.

“One student said he was so drunk he couldn’t remember the game,” Miller said.

Last month, the board was asked to place signs letting the public know that passive alcohol sensors were being used. The board’s consensus was that it wasn’t necessary to to post signs, as this is just another tool officers use to protect the public.

In other business, the board:

• Approved a grant request to build a cafeteria addition to the high school/middle school building. The proposed 88 x 64 addition to the west side of the school, just north of the existing locker rooms, will encompass 1,920 square feet for a kitchen/serving area and 3,712 square feet for dining room. If built, the new addition will be constructed in the area currently occupied by the weight and wrestling rooms which would have to be moved. The addition is estimated to cost $1.1 million. The board applied to the Iowa Demonstration Construction Grant Program to fund the addition, with a local match.