Some Long Island legislators want to set up a system to alert school districts about heroin possession arrests and sales, but face resistance from the School Boards Association of Nassau-Suffolk County, the New York Times reported Dec. 12.

Legislation, drafted in response to an increase in heroin use and named after an 18-year-old honors student who recently died of an overdose, would require police to immediately notify nearby school districts, synagogues, churches, PTAs, civic and community organizations when an arrest for possession or sale of heroin takes place.

Schools also would be notified if a student has been arrested on heroin-related charges, regardless of where the arrest took place.

"In my experience, the schools have been in denial over how serious the heroin problem is," said Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence W. Mulvey. "Parents are in the dark, and it's going on right before their eyes."

The school boards association contends that the initial text of the legislation exceeded the legislature's authority to impose restrictions on school districts, and that the scope of the new laws would create an unnecessary burden on the schools. Lorraine Deller, the executive director of the association, said that "the proposals immunized from liability any official, employee or agency of the county and their police departments, but made no effort to provide immunization of liability for schools."

In response, the Suffolk County bill was limited to monthly notification posted on a website and mapping of the areas where heroin arrests take place.

Nassau County, however, is proceeding with the original legislation. Nassau County legislator David Mejia of Farmingdale said that parents of school-age children "expect their kids to experiment with alcohol, but never with heroin," and that schools and parents want to be informed "if there is someone in the community who is involved or has been arrested so they can be on the lookout."
 
The Nassau Legislature will vote on its measure Dec. 15; the Suffolk Legislature, on Dec. 18.