News that a drug-dealing investigation at his child’s high school had resulted in multiple suspensions and two students criminally charged prompted a complicated response from Jack Peiser.

Peiser said he believes officials at Stevenson High School know drug use among students is “a huge problem, but it’s not a top priority.”

Yet the Buffalo Grove man, speaking after a District 125 school board meeting at the Lincolnshire school Monday evening, also criticized tactics used in the investigation. School officials have confirmed they confiscated students’ cellphones and viewed text messages on those phones to glean information about drug-dealing and find other students involved.

“You pull a 15-year-old into the dean’s office, and they’re scared to death and they don’t know their rights,” said Peiser, who added that he supported the suspensions but also questioned the worth of penalizing younger students by pulling them out of sports and activities.

Another parent said she wanted to hear more from the school board about how it would combat drug use but also expressed disappointment that so few parents showed up.

In fact, it turned out to be needless when school board President Bruce Lubin opened the meeting by telling parents that they could make comments but that the board would respond to them later in the week, not publicly. During the first board meeting since news of the investigation broke about two weeks ago, no parents sought to make a public comment on the matter, and they were vastly outnumbered by members of the news media.

Lubin read a statement acknowledging some parents had questioned why the districts hadn’t provided more details on the investigation, such as how many students were suspended.

“But please understand that we are legally and ethically limited to the type of information that we can share,” he read.

Lubin also addressed the use of the cellphones in the investigation: “Far more important than the question of cellphone misues and searches is the fact that we may have students and families in our community who are struggling with drug use and addiction.”

School officials have previously defended the searches of cellphones, saying that was within their rights. Other experts said it’s a murky area of law, though the courts have generally granted school officials wide leeway to search lockers and grounds. Lincolnshire police have also said they received a court order that granted them access to the cellphone records of one students.

Though police said last week that two students have been brought up in juvenile court up on pot-delivery charges, school spokesman Jim Conrey said Monday that no students have been recommended for expulsion in the investigation so far. No expulsions hearings were scheduled for Monday’s school board meeting, and Conrey said the probe was expected to conclude on Tuesday.

Lubin noted that, besides the school’s regular curriculum, the district has provided additional programs on drug use and abuse for students and families in recent years.

“Our hope and expectation is that the district will continue to do all it can to keep the school and the students safe from the dangers of drug use,” he said. “We know that some of our students and famlies may be strugging with drug use and abuse problems, and our hearts go out to them.”

Tribune reporter John Keilman contributed.