Search and Seizure

(Board of Education Policy 5145.12)

The Board of Education recognizes the rights of privacy of its students as afforded by both the state and federal constitutions and that these rights may not be violated by unreasonable search and seizure. It is, therefore, the policy of this Board that no student may be searched without his/her consent unless there is reasonable cause to do so.

The Board acknowledges the need for the in-school storage of student possessions and shall provide storage places, including desks and lockers, for that purpose. Where locks are provided for such places, students may lock them against intrusion by other students or third persons, but in no such places shall the students have such exclusivity so as to prevent examination by school authorities.

The school authorities are charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the safety and well being of the students in their care. In the discharge of that responsibility, they may investigate the presence of any substance or object the possession of which is illegal or poses a hazard to the safety, good order or general well-being of the school whenever and wherever there is reasonable cause to believe the presence of any such substance or object.

The right to inspection of students’ school lockers is inherent in the authority granted school boards and administrators and should be exercised so as to assure parents/guardians that the school, in pursuing its “in loco parentis” relationship with their children, will employ every safeguard to protect the well-being of those children which may include the use of law enforcement and the canine (K-9) units.