Free State High student Mesha Monteaux estimated two-thirds of the more than 500 students in the crowd at the school’s Firestarter Dance on Saturday night had been drinking or were drunk.

One student vomited in a trash can, junior Carol Fittell said, and some classmates hung onto others.

Drunkenness isn’t all that unusual at school dances, senior Landen Swaggerty said.

The school caught and suspended three students at the Firestarter, which took place in the school’s commons area. The event sparked a new discussion about alcohol and drug use before dances and activities.

“I don’t like this kind of thing occurring at our dances or anywhere,” Supt. Randy Weseman said.

Weseman plans to talk with administrators and staff at both high schools to assess the issue and determine whether to change policies. Possible approaches to the problem: breathalyzers or steeped-up security.

“I think there’s a whole host of things on the table right now that we’re going to be talking about as a school community,” said Mike Hill, an assistant principal at Free State High.

At a typical dance, Free State staff might nab at least one student for being intoxicated, Hill said. But Free State isn’t alone. At Lawrence High, a typical dance might include having three or four students caught under the influence, Principal Steve Nilhas said.

“That’s three or four too many,” Nilhas said. “It’s something we shouldn’t take lightly. That’s the bottom line.”

• 6News video: Intoxicated students at dance raise concerns

Some Free State students say they don’t understand why Saturday’s dance raised a stir.

“It kind of surprised me that they’re noticing it now,” Monteaux said.

As a season kick-off, it was a larger than typical dance. And it was a new scene for younger students.

“Many sophomores came home with stories about alcohol and drugs and inappropriate behavior and so parents are sort of up in arms … defending their children,” said Spencer Lott, a senior and student body president.

Hill said several parents called the school with concerns.

But some parents recognize it’s a difficult problem to solve.

“It’s easy to point out the problem,” said Rex Gardner, parent of a Free State student and a member of the school’s site council. “What’s the solution?”

Students and staff have different assessments of how many students come to dances drunk.

Swaggerty said there is a high number of intoxicated students.

“It’s seriously at least half,” he said. “Not everybody is really bad, but at least half are intoxicated.”

Hill said he did not know how many students were intoxicated Saturday.

Three were caught.

“Were there more kids that were under the influence?” he said. “I have no doubt that there were.”

Hill said the school is planning how to combat the problem. Educators will beef up personnel at the next dance. And a message urging students to live up to high standards will be given this week.

And there are other options. Breathalyzers. Heightened security. Tougher consequences.

Nilhas said staff at LHS do the best they can to catch rule-breakers.

“With what we have at our disposal now, I think we’re doing the best we can,” he said. “If we’re going to want to do better, I think we have to consider the tools we have in our box.”

Any changes, such as requiring students take breathalyzer tests, would have to be made by the community, Nilhas said.

Many struggle to find a solution.

“I think it’s so hard to stop, it should be more about getting the level of it down to a calmer level,” said Robby Kocour, a Free State senior.