The Kern High School District Board of Trustees unveiled plans Monday night for using drug-sniffing dogs on district campuses.

The trustees approved a drug-sniffing dog pilot program with a 4-1 vote in early October, and dogs will begin patrolling campuses within two months, trustees said Monday.

During the 2007-08 school year, more than 500 students were expelled from district schools for serious drug-related offenses, and trustees said they hope drug-sniffing dogs will deter such behavior.

Delano, Taft, Garces and Bakersfield Christian high schools already use drug-sniffing dogs, and officials with those schools claim the dogs have been helpful.

Kern High School District is partnering with the Kern County Probation Department for use of drug-sniffing dogs at no cost to the school district. The probation department will provide a handler and dog for searching for contraband in lockers and cars in school parking lots. Individuals will not be searched.

The pilot program will likely run for a year, allowing the trustees to examine its effectiveness before implementing a full-fledged program. Trustee Ken Mettler said searches would be random, meaning a school could be searched three days in a row or not at all for three months.

Parents should receive letters in the next several weeks that will explain the program, and the district will hold drug-sniffing dog demonstrations at schools, the trustees announced.