PARIS — No drugs were found during a planned search of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School by state police on Tuesday, Principal Ted Moccia said.

Searches are done periodically under the Oxford Hills School District policy to ensure a safe and drug-free environment, he said. This was the second one in two years and the results were the same.

“We set this up a while ago,” Moccia said. Only the principal and superintendent know about searches ahead of time, he said.

Two Maine State Police officers and their drug-sniffing dogs walked the hallways and parking lots but did not enter student lockers or cars because the dogs did not detect any scent of drugs, Moccia said.

When police arrived, an announcement was made over the public address system telling everyone to stay in their classrooms.

“We never expose our children to the dogs,” he said, because the policy forbids it.

Teaching continued and if anything was needed, Moccia said, he had “runners” to go to a classroom.

All parents of high school students were to be called by Moccia through the school’s instant messaging system at 6 p.m. Tuesday to receive an explanation of the situation. Students were also given letters to take home Tuesday afternoon.

“I think it’s a great thing,” Moccia said of the effort. “We know we have a safe, drug-free school.”

Moccia said he will be at the Oxford Hills School District board meeting March 7 to talk more about the search.

ldixon@sunjournal.com