Michael Schiehser, the new principal at Tiger Mountain Community High School in Issaquah, has a lot on his mind. As the administrator of the alternative high school, with about 100 students this school year, he is in his first job as a principal.

“I wanted a small community knowing every kid in the school by name, a small staff and a huge need,” Schiehser said. “What else could a principal ask for?”

Schiehser talks quickly and precisely, all the while keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble. He lives in the Issaquah school district with his family, with one daughter at Cougar Ridge elementary and the other starting kindergarten next year.

“Truthfully, I feel I can have a significant impact on kid’s lives and the health of the community,” he said.

Schiehser spent seven years with the Mercer Island School District, as the director of teaching and learning, in addition to wearing several other hats. He wants to be a great principal, and have a closer relationship with students and staff, and help the most at-risk and vulnerable students succeed.

Right now he is very concerned about drug use, in particular, black-tar heroin. He said there are kids who will come in for maybe two classes, but after 20 minutes, they look at their watches and walk out. They are off to meet a dealer.

“We went after them,” Schiehser said. “We got five key users and dealers out of Tiger Mountain.”

He said word on the street is that he pushed the drug action onto the “trail,” or the Rainier Trail, which links the school campuses (Issaquah High School included) to the skatepark. Schiehser said that even on a cold, dark, rainy night, there will be kids on the trail, using. He calls it an epidemic. There are the potheads and there are tar-heads, who don’t necessarily associate with one another, but they will give each other a heads-up if the authorities are coming.

Schiehser worked with Friends of Youth which is providing a substance abuse treatment counselor to the school, who comes for half a day on Mondays. Friends of Youth funds the position 100 percent. But he said the Issaquah City Council needs to start owning the problem and get a full-time drug/alcohol counselor on board.

“There’s been discussion with city council, but in the social service world we’ve been cut over the years,” said Paula Frederick, director of youth and family services for Friends of Youth. “We would be happy to provide any services, but funding has been dramatically reduced.”

Frederick said there is no more assistance from King County and that heroin use is a problem all over the East side, not just at Tiger Mountain.

Schiehser estimates that 80 percent of his kids at Tiger Mountain are dependent on some sort of controlled substance, everything from cigarettes to heroin.

Since taking the helm at Tiger Mountain, he has formed a youth concerns task force which includes city council president Tola Marts, Police Chief Paul Ayers, and the principals at Issaquah High School and Issaquah Middle School, Paula Phelps and Corrine DeRosa, respectively.

He also believes ending the school day at 3:15 is unacceptable. He wants to extend the hours the school is open to 5:30, perhaps later with community support.

“We need a teen center for students who don’t connect with typical clubs, sports and activities,” he said.

Schiehser hopes to have the Tiger Mountain Teen Center up and running in February, which will give students healthy after school options.

He said parents are an integral part of the solution, so on Jan. 14 he has scheduled a “Talking to Tiger Teens” meeting for parents.

“We must give parents the tools to support their teens,” Schiehser said.

He is also bringing in a chemical dependency specialist, Jerry Blackburn, to provide staff training on neurological aspects of drug use.

“Our staff are not social workers or drug intervention specialists,” he said. “They’re teachers.”

Schiehser is also implementing an advisory program where students in small groups will have discussions about drug use and other issues, with each other and teachers.

“We have students here that are fed up with drug use on this campus,” Schiehser said. “They are the ones calling it to the attention of teachers and administrators.”

Other planned actions include renewed partnership and leadership with the Drug-Free Action Coalition which includes bringing a Tiger Mountain student to the table; working with police and the city’s public works department to dismantle drug forts along the trail, and a proactive approach to holding students responsible for being under the influence of drugs, dealing drugs or being in possession of drugs or paraphernalia.

Schiehser said 35 percent of the students at Tiger Mountain are on individual education plans as well as free and reduced lunch. He hopes that 30 students will graduate in the spring.

“Yes, these kids will live productive lives,” he said. “The vision is to better identify individual needs to provide programming for success.