4 girls cited for passing vodka in Highland Park classroom

The teens at Highland Park High School in St. Paul drank the alcohol out of a water bottle.

By Mary Lynn Smith, Star Tribune

Last update: November 1, 2007 - 9:10 PM

Tipped off by some odd behavior during science class and a 15-year-old who had trouble negotiating a school stairway, St. Paul school officials discovered that four girls had shared a water bottle filled with vodka during their second-hour class Monday.

St. Paul police cited the three 14-year-old girls and one 15-year-old girl for minor consumption and released them to their parents, said Pete Crum, St. Paul Police spokesman. The minimum school penalty for the girls, who attend Highland Park Senior High School, will be suspension -- up to three days for a serious violation. They also will be referred for a chemical health evaluation, said Brett Johnson, St. Paul Public Schools spokesman.

School officials said the teacher noticed some of the girls refused to wear goggles, which were required for the lab they were about to do. More than that, their behavior seemed suspicious and the teacher called the assistant principal to the classroom, said Principal Nancy Katzmarek.

The assistant principal left the classroom with the 15-year-old girl, noticed she was stumbling down the stairs and brought her to the nurse's office, Katzmarek said. Police officials said another girl involved in the drinking was already there.

The 15-year-old girl's blood-alcohol level was 0.172. Two other girls had blood-alcohol levels just under 0.08, Crum said. The fourth girl wasn't tested because she wasn't interviewed until much later, Crum said. She admitted to drinking from the bottle but said she didn't know there was vodka in it, Crum said.

Police and school officials said the brazen classroom drinking is not something they ever remember happening before. "This was an anomaly," said Katzmarek, who has worked in the St. Paul schools for 30 years.

The incident probably won't prompt school officials to change the policy on water bottles to class. "We encourage students to bring water," Katzmarek said. "We might change the policy for these four offenders but we don't want to punish 1,400 students."

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788

Mary Lynn Smith • mlsmith@startribune.com