When students are caught with “inappropriate” items or materials at school and are asked to be searched by school officials, they often refuse because they believe they have rights that protect them “I don’t agree with the deans being able to search your things, because it’s your own personal belongings,” junior Cassidy Hicks said. However, this is not the case. “Here you don’t have a lot of search rights because you’re in a public building, but with your own private stuff you do [like at home],” stated SRO Katie Carver.

If any school official has “reasonable suspicion” to believe that students are in possession of illegal or unauthorized materials, personal items may be searched. Lockers are on school property, which means school officials can go inside the locker at any time without notice, student consent, and without a search warrant–same goes for car searches. If students refuse to let deans or administrators search them or their vehicle, parents will be called and students may be suspended or lose the privilege of carrying a backpack or parking in the school parking lot.

Items that are taken due to any searches, will be kept by the deans and destroyed when no longer considered evidence. Students may get their item back depending on if it’s considered against the law to have, for example: weed (which gets booked into evidence), cigarettes, bongs, etc. School officials communicate with parents as much as possible in regards to trying to get the students’ item back.

All these safety practices are in place so that when students come to school, they come ready and prepared for the school day without any items that could put themselves or others in danger. “When you come to school it should be to learn,” SRO Katie Carver said.

For more information on search protocol, students can check out the Code of Conduct found online.