Searches of Students and Their Property
A student and their property may be searched by a principal or a principal鈥檚 designee if reasonable grounds exist to suspect that evidence of a violation of the law or school rules will be uncovered. The search will be limited to the scope appropriate of the suspected illicit activity or substances. School staff will report a student’s suspicious activity to the principal prior to initiating a search, except in emergency situations. A search is required when there are reasonable grounds to suspect a student has a firearm on school grounds, transportation or at school events.
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Establishing reasonable suspicion.
A search may occur if the principal or a principal鈥檚 designee has reasonable suspicion that the search will produce evidence of unlawful activity or a violation of a school rule. To determine whether reasonable suspicion exists, consider the following:
A. What information is the suspicion based on?
B. Is the information reliable?
C. Is the person who shared the information credible?
D. Is the pertinent information related to current conditions and not past behaviors?
E. If a search were conducted what鈥檚 the likelihood that evidence of unlawful activity or a violation of a school rule would be found?
Conducting the search
If the principal or the principal鈥檚 designee determines that reasonable suspicion exists to search a student’s clothing, personal effects, automobile or personal container inside of district property such as an assigned desk, locker or storage area, the search will be conducted as follows:
A. If evidence of unlawful activity or a violation of a school rule is suspected and not of a weapon or unsafe item, proceed to search by asking the student to remove all items from pockets, purses, handbags, backpacks, gym bags, etc.
B. If the evidence for a search is a violation of possessing weapons, then an administrator will conduct the search of purses, handbags, backpacks, gym bags, etc.
C. If the student refuses to cooperate in a personal search, the student should be held until the student’s parent/guardian is available to consent to the search. If a parent/guardian cannot be reached in a reasonable time, or if there is an immediate safety concern, the principal may conduct the search without the student’s consent.
D. The search must not be excessively intrusive considering the age and sex of the student and the nature of the suspected infraction.
E. Do not conduct a strip search or body cavity search of the student.
Locker, Desk and Storage Area Searches
Lockers, desks and storage areas are the property of the school district. Accordingly, students have no expectation of privacy in the lockers, desks and storage areas they use or are assigned.
Because students have no expectation of privacy in their lockers, desks and storage areas, principals or principals鈥 designees may search all student lockers, desks or storage areas at any time without prior notice and without reasonable suspicion that the search will yield evidence of any student鈥檚 violation of the law or school rule.
Administrative inspections, or health and welfare inspections, may be conducted at any time to locate misplaced library books, textbooks or other school property or to ensure that all lockers, desks or storage areas are kept clean and free from potential health or safety hazards. Periodic inspections of lockers will reinforce the district’s ownership of lockers, desks and storage areas and the minimal expectation of privacy students have in the contents of their lockers, desks and storage areas.
However, to search containers within a student鈥檚 locker, desk or storage area, reasonable suspicion must exist that the search will yield evidence of a violation of the law or school rules. A 鈥渃ontainer鈥 for the purpose of this procedure may include, but is not limited to, an article of clothing, a handbag, purse, backpack, gym bag or any other item in which contraband material may be concealed.