St. Charles seniors given breathalyzers before commencement rehearsal

School officials in St. Charles say they were right to have given the high school's senior class breath tests for alcohol consumption. Teachers suspected they'd been drinking before a graduation practice.

The incident happened last week before the weekend graduation ceremony.

Superintendent Mark Roubinek joined The Daily Circuit Wednesday and said the class of 74 students was tested, and more than 10 students were found to have been drinking, possibly the night before. Some parents later objected to the tests, but Roubinek explained the school's decision.

"We felt that there were a large number of students that were potentially under the influence of alcohol," he said. "That was obviously a concern that we had to consider. And then the second thing was that, you know we're going to go through this graduation practice and the students are going to be released in 30 to 45 minutes. And if we have a number of students that are under the influence, which we clearly suspect, they're going to be out driving."

Roubinek said the students did suffer some consequences, but declined to give details.

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