• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

NEW BERLIN - Four New Berlin West students received citations after allegedly drinking while on a biology field trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo.

A 14-year-old boy told police he drank six shots of vodka. Police said a 15-year-old female student poured the vodka into a water bottle and brought it on the bus to the zoo.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department said they found an empty bottle of vodka in the trash near where the field trip buses were parked. They also said they found the water bottle filled with vodka on the bus.

That 14-year-old was so drunk, his blood alcohol level was .23, nearly three times the legal adult limit.

The 15-year-old girl and two other students who drank the vodka were handcuffed and hauled away by Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputies. They were all cited for underage drinking. The boy, who authorities said threw up on the field trip bus, was hospitalized. He was also cited for underage drinking.

Now some parents want to know if the students were being chaperoned. We tried to talk to the New Berlin West principal, the superintendent, and the school board about this. No one would comment. 

We talked the parents of several of the kids on the field trip. Some said there should have been more chaperons. Others said the school didn't do anything wrong and teens who want to drink will find a way.

The district would not tell us if the students are being punished, or if they are suspended or expelled. But the district said they don't have a district wide policy; they discipline students on a case by case basis.