BARRINGTON — The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union is strongly opposed to a proposal by Police Chief John LaCross that would require all students attending high school dances to take an alcohol-detecting breath test.

In a letter sent to school officials yesterday, ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown acknowledged the pressures on school officials to address the problem of underage drinking in town, but called the proposal “ineffectual and inappropriately dismissive of students’ legitimate rights.”

Brown supports the school’s current policy, which allows breath testing upon reasonable suspicion that a particular student is impaired.

“Rather than treating every student as a suspect,” Brown wrote, “the current policy recognizes the privacy rights of students should not be so cavalierly ignored and that intrusions on those rights should be limited to circumstances when officials have reason to believe a student may have engaged in improper conduct.”

High school principal John Gray said he’s been meeting with parents and town officials and will meet with students to discuss the proposal, but said the issue is far from settled.

“This is a topic that’s been brought up that we should discuss, and it’s a possible change in policy,” Gray said.

The current policy does not include mandatory testing.

“We are concerned about [the] continuing culture of underage drinking,” Gray said. “Our goal is to provide a safe environment for our kids.”

Gray said any action would likely follow a report from a Town Council-hired consultant that is expected to be presented to the town next month.

LaCross has said that students in nearby Seekonk who have been drinking no longer attend school dances after a similar policy was adopted there. The ACLU, however, said that social problems such as underage drinking are not so easily solved and suggested that some students may simply wait until after the dance to drink.

Brown also pointed out the technical challenges inherent in implementing a breath-test policy on all students: the tests must be administered properly and the machines must be maintained.

“Since we assume that a zero reading ... will be required,” Brown wrote, “the possibilities for error are not insignificant when every student — not just those suspected of drinking — is subject to a test.”

The letter stressed that there are no shortcuts in dealing with a social problem such as underage drinking.

“Tragic teenage deaths, not to mention increased and severe penalties, have not solved the problem,” Brown wrote, “but little is gained by implementing policies that undermine the rights of students.”

With reports from projo.com staff writer Maria Armental

lborg@projo.com