Administrators, teachers, and other personnel may question a student regarding the student's own conduct or the conduct of other students. In the context of school discipline, students have no claim to the right not to incriminate themselves.
For provisions pertaining to student questioning by law enforcement officials or other lawful authorities, see GRA.
The School may use specially trained nonagressive dogs to sniff out and alert officials to the current presence of concealed prohibited items, illicit substances defined in FNCF, and alcohol. This program is implemented in response to drug and alcohol related problems in the School, with the objective of maintaining a safe school environment conducive to education.
Such visits to schools and residences, if made, must be approved in advance by the Superintendent and shall be unannounced. The dogs shall be used to sniff vacant classrooms, vacant dormitory rooms, vacant common areas, the areas around student lockers, and the areas around vehicles parked on school property. The dogs shall not be used with students. If a dog alerts to a locker or an item in a classroom, it may be searched by school officials.
Trained dogs' sniffing of lockers does not constitute a search under the Fourth Amendment. The alert of a trained dog to a locker provides reasonable cause for a search of the locker only if the dog is reasonably reliable in indicating that contraband is currently present.
Horton v. Goose Creek ISD, 690 F.2d. 470 (5th Cir. 1982)
Prior to the implementation of the use of trained dogs and at the beginning of each school year, the School shall inform students and parents of the School's policy on searches, as outlined above, and shall specifically notify students that:
The student's parent or guardian shall be notified if any prohibited articles or materials are found in a student's locker or on the student's person, as a result of a search conducted in accordance with this policy.
Students shall be free from unreasonable search and seizure by school officials. School officials may search a student's outer clothing, pockets, or property by establishing reasonable cause or securing the student's voluntary consent. Coercion, either express, or implied, such as threatening to contact parents or police, invalidates apparent consent. U.S. Const., Amend. 4; New Jersey v. T.L.O., 105 S.Ct. 733 (1985); Jones v. Latexo ISD, 499 F.Supp. 223 (1980)
A search is reasonable if it meets both of the following criteria:
New Jersey v. T.L.O., 105 S.Ct. 711 (1985)
The School may adopt a random drug testing policy for students who participate in interscholastic athletics, only if:
Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, SCt. (1995)
Areas such as lockers, which are owned by the School and jointly controlled by the School and student, may be searched if reasonable cause exists to believe that contraband is inside the locker. Zamora v. Pomeroy, 639 F.2d 662 (10th Cir. 1981)
Adopted: 4/7/78
Amended: 1/16/81, 1/14/83, 9/27/90, 11/17/95, 11/15/96, 3/26/04
Reviewed: