Post City Magazines has verified that the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and Northern Secondary School Principal Ron Felsen will be headed to court to argue their implementation of a blanket breathalyzer test for all participants of the school’s May 29 prom.
Toronto lawyer Jonathan Lisus has filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on behalf of two students, including school council President Brett Gorski, to halt the procedure. In an interview with Post City Magazines, Lisus said the issue will not likely be heard in court until next Monday or Tuesday (May 26 or 27), but he will be seeking to stop the testing at Northern on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.
He said that although he is aware of other schools in the city and the province that have similar policies, the case is only in relation to Northern and Felsen in his capacity as principal.
“I do expect this will set the precedent for the city and the rest of the province, though,” Lisus said of the results, if successful.
“The Breathalyzer Policy is warrantless and is a presumptively unreasonable search,” Lisus wrote in his notice of application to the court, adding the principal and school board “lack reasonable grounds to believe that the applicants (the students), or any other prom attendee, will violate any school rule at the prom.”
The issue came to light in early May, after the principal announced to the student body they would be required to take a breathalyzer test to enter the prom, which is being held at the Eglinton Grand on May 29. Saying he had found other Toronto-area schools with similar policies, Felsen wanted to address student safety concerns by ensuring the board's zero-tolerance for alcohol at school functions was upheld.
“Despite our proactive efforts in the past to prevent students from consuming alcohol prior to the prom…alcohol has continued to be a problem at the last number of school dances and school formals,” Felsen wrote to parents following the decision. “We’re in the field of education, so I have a responsibility; it’s going to be a great evening and they (students) will learn it’s possible to have a great prom to remember for all the right reasons and without alcohol.”
