The search began at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday and included the high school, the high school parking lot and the Compass School in Whitman Center, according to Whitman Deputy Chief Scott Benton.

The school was on lock-down and students had no previous knowledge of the search, he said.

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Principal Ed Lee said that the K9s came in to search the school to ensure that the students are in a drug free, safe environment.

Two students have been suspended from school after a “minimal amount of marijuana was found,” Lee said.

Lee added that a third student may also be suspended, but the incident is still under investigation.

No one from the high school has been arrested and the administration is handling the matter.

“What happened today was the best case scenario,” Lee said.

With over 1,200 students, only two suspended makes a statement that many of the students are making good decisions in the high school, he said.

The school officials have seen that there is a drug problem in the community and they want to be proactive about the situation.

“We have had a number of alumni students who have died from drug overdoses,” Lee said. “If we could save some lives in the future I think we’ve done our part.”

“What we hope to do is provide support and assist students to make school a safe environment,” Lee said. “We hope to turn this negative incident into a positive one.”

In the past, the high school has administered breathalyzers at prom, and now with the drug search the school officials are making strong statements, according to Lee.

During the search, Lee said the students and staff were cooperative.

Superintendent Ruth Glibert-Whitner said that the administrators worked with the Whitman and Hanson police departments after the drug forum, which was held earlier this month.

“Very few people knew that the search was going to take place,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “This allowed us to get a real honest look into the situation.”

Gilbert-Whitner said having the search is a great deterrent for good kids that may find themselves in the wrong situation.

“I think the search furthers the communication between the school district and police toward making sure the kids are safe and making it known drugs won’t be tolerated at the schools,” Benton said.

With the school vacation and holidays coming, the school district and police departments said it was a good time to do the search.