Owensville City Marshal Scott Griffith confirmed Thursday police conducted an “investigative search” at Owensville Elementary School this morning after school officials notified law enforcement about concerns an employee was “under the influence of an illegal substance.”

Gasconade County R-2 School District Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy sent a message late Thursday morning notifying parents that a police K-9 unit had detected “trace amounts of methamphetamine in two rooms.” Griffith clarified telling The Republican the police K-9 alerted it had detected to the presence of methamphetamine but no physical quantity of the high-addictive substance was discovered.

“It could have been on clothing, or (from a hand to) a chair,” said Griffith of what the dog was alerting to. “There was no methamphetamine physically in the room. Nothing was located.”

He noted school officials where having the two affected rooms professionally cleaned following the search which began shortly after 8 a.m. May 7. Searched were numerous classrooms and bathrooms throughout sections of the building. “We over-checked the building,” Griffith said

Hardy’s release also noted the intent to have these rooms cleaned by the “appropriate outside agencies.”

Hardy’s letter to parents said the “employee was removed and rooms were cleared of students staff.”

Griffith said there was no evidence discovered which would warrant a drug possession charge for the employee. He said the school administration was handling the worker’s employment status based on district policy.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Staci Johnson said district became aware of the situation on May 6 when adults interacting with the person noticed that something was off.

“They ended up getting a drug test done at a doctor’s office, not on campus,” Johnson said. “We were informed later in the afternoon.”

The school resource officer was notified of the situation immediately and the local police were contacted around 12:30 p.m. on May 7 to investigate further.

“We followed our normal procedures, of course that included hotlining and notifying local police,” Johnson said. “This employee’s interaction with students was limited. We took all precautionary measures to ensure that students were not exposed to these areas.”

The district sent parents a clarification in the afternoon of May 7, noting that no methamphetamine were found during the search, and the K-9 officer alerted to clothing only.