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SARASOTA -- Teenagers drank rum before going to Sarasota High's last Valentine's dance. They played music in the parking lot loud enough for neighbors to complain and beat up a disabled man who confronted them.

The school district maintains it had enough chaperones and security at the February dance, held at the Sahib Shrine on Beneva Road.

But the district is still making some changes, including a new requirement that school-sponsored activities be held on campus, except for the prom, graduation and homecoming.

Principals have also asked permission to use Breathalyzers to help maintain control at school dances and athletic events. The district's lawyers are evaluating that request.

"We had a lot of discussion" after the Valentine's dance, said Barbara Chomko, executive director of secondary education for Sarasota County.

"The focus was on where do we have our dances, and one of our big problems is we don't have spaces and venues on our campus for large events," she said.

Art Hardy, legal counsel for the School Board, said the board asked him this summer to check into whether using Breathalyzers on students would violate any constitutional rights.

"The issue is one basically of searches," Hardy said. "Certainly schools have more discretion than, say, the police do. But I didn't find anything specifically addressing that point."

The details of how to use the Breathalyzers -- under what circumstances, with what protocols, and what happens if a student is caught drinking -- would all have to be worked out, he said.

Principals would like to have Breathalyzers at their disposal for all events, Chomko said.

"So when they are suspicious, they would have something to confirm their suspicions," she said. "Our biggest problem is alcohol."

Sometimes parents even allow students to drink in their homes before they go to events, Chomko said.

"I can't tell you how many times we've uncovered those type of issues," she said.

The school already acts when officials have reasonable suspicion of students drinking at school events, she said.

All school-related activities and dances at secondary schools will be held on school grounds, with the exception of homecoming, prom and graduation, Chomko said.

Schools are preparing for the change. Booker High School, for instance, is purchasing a huge tarp so dancing in high heels doesn't damage its gymnasium floor, she said

Security officers and chaperones will be better able to patrol events at the campuses because they know the buildings better, she said.

Three students faced criminal charges in connection with the Valentine's dance fight Feb. 19. Residents of Beneva Oaks Apartments, a residential complex for people with disabilities, had complained about loud music from the parking lot of the Sahib Shrine.

After Thomas Contant confronted the teens about the music, one jumped over the fence and took his cane, witnesses said. Another teen said he jumped on the fence, breaking out slats that were used to fracture Contant's facial bones, requiring reconstructive surgery.

The students and Contant threw the broken fence pieces back and forth, and a group of five or six teens jumped over the fence and surrounded the man, according to testimony.

Two students had identified the two teens who hit Contant in the head with pieces of the fence. But their testimony fell apart in the trial -- one because he was drunk at the time and another because he said he was no longer sure who struck Contant.

One of the three teens charged in the incident was convicted last week of misdemeanor battery. The other two were acquitted.

Chomko said the district's policy on the number of security and chaperones at dances has not changed because of the incident.

There were two dozen chaperones and several police officers at the Valentine's dance. They patrolled the parking lot after the dance, but sometimes trouble breaks out quickly, she said.

Students are checked for alcohol, and are not allowed in and out of the dance, she said. The chaperone requirements were met at that dance, school spokeswoman Sheila Weiss said.