Some Minnesota parents are furious after a local high school gave all its seniors breathalyzer tests at their graduation rehearsal, with school officials claiming that since they smelled alcohol on some of the kids, they were justified in screening everyone.

Jim Welp said that although his son Alec tested negative, the school overreached when it forced the entire graduating class at St. Charles High School to take the breathalyzer tests. After Alec told him what happened, Jim immediately contacted school administrators.

“They said they [have the right to test everyone], I said you don’t … you have to have probable cause … you can’t test them all because some of the students have alcohol,” he said.

Superintendent Mark Roubinek told a local news station that teachers reported the “unusual behavior” of about 20 students to the principal, and says the administration was worried intoxicated students would get behind the wheel after rehearsal was over.

“It was a bad situation, it would’ve been a terrible situation if some kids would’ve gotten hurt or killed,” Roubinek said.

The school didn’t say exactly how many of the 74 seniors had been drinking, only that it was “double-digit” numbers. Everyone was allowed to graduate, but the kids who imbibed “face consequences.”


Parents plan to attend a school board meeting on June 11 to voice their concerns.

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