Are They Legal in Public

Schools?

William Allan Kritsonis,

PhD
 "[t]he right of the people to be
secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated...."
This was the amendment that
protected people from unreasonable
search and seizures, including
public school students.
 T.L.O. and a friend were accused of
violating school rules by smoking
cigarettes in a school lavatory, the latter,
who admitted to smoking, was not brought
to the office for a search. The Supreme
Court of New Jersey decreed that the
search of T.L.O.'s purse violated the Fourth
Amendment. On appeal, in New Jersey v.
T.L.O., the Supreme Court reversed in
favor of the State of New Jersey (Russo).
This was the case that laid the basic
principles for student searches.
 School officials must establish
reasonable cause for believing that
the student is violating or has
violated a student rule or a law.
They must make sure that the
search conducted is reasonable in
scope in light of the age and sex of
the student and the nature of the
offense.
 A school official may search the person of a student if
the school official has reasonable grounds to believe
that the student is in possession of contraband.
Search of the person shall be limited to the student's
pockets, any object in the student's possession such as
a purse, briefcase or backpack, and/or a "pat down" of
the exterior of the student's clothing.
Searches of the person shall be conducted out of the
presence of other students and as privately as possible.
At least one, but not more than three additional
persons of the same sex as the student being searched
shall witness but not participate in the search.
The parent/guardian of any student searched shall be
notified of the search as soon as reasonably possible.
 A locker search is simply the act of
opening a locker and looking through its
contents. Depending on the state,
administration may choose to search one,
several or all lockers. The search may
begin when a drug dog indicates that
there may be some contraband such as
drugs in the locker, when a student
reports concern of what another student
may have in his locker, or when the
administration calls for a random search.
 Sniffer dogs can be used if they are
sufficiently reliable to indicate
reasonable suspicion that contraband
is present.
Horton v. Goose Creek the court
established that dogs could sniff
students' cars and lockers, but could
not sniff the students themselves for
drugs.
 In 1978 the Goose Creek Independent School District
in Texas brought in drug-sniffing dogs in an attempt
to deal with a rampant drug and alcohol problem.
The dogs were trained to detect more than 60
different controlled and over-the-counter substances.
On an unannounced and random basis, dogs were
taken to all of the schools in the district to sniff the
students' lockers and cars and were brought into the
classrooms to sniff the students themselves. If a dog
indicated that a car or locker had an illegal
substance, the student was required to open the
locker or vehicle for a search. If the dog indicated a
student was carrying an illegal substance, he or she
was brought into the school office to be searched.
 Due to the personal
intrusiveness of a drug test it is
looked upon as a search.
Students athletes are subject to
random drug tests.
Vernonia School District v. Acton
was the case law that laid down
the guidelines for drug testing.
 The Student Activities Drug Testing
Policy implemented by Pottawatomie
County School District requires all
students who participate in competitive
extracurricular activities to submit to
drug testing. This policy reasonably
serves the school district's important
interest in detecting and preventing
drug use among its students, therefore
the court held it as constitutional.
 These devices are permissible in
schools for student searches.
These devices are also used
doing extra-curricular activities.
Students and parents must be
notified that random student
searches will occur.
 Student searches are permissible as
long as students Fourth Amendment
rights are not violated.
Parents and students should be aware
of random searches through the
student code of conduct.
School officials have a responsibility
to keep safe and secure environments
for students and falculty.