Dr. Kritsonis is Professor of Educational Leadership at Prairie View A&M University – Member of the Texas A&M University System. He teaches in the PhD Program in Educational Leadership and the Master’s Program in Administration with emphasis in Principal certification. Dr. Kritsonis taught the Inaugural class session in the doctoral program at the start of the fall 2004 academic year. In October 2006, Dr. Kritsonis chaired the first doctoral student to earn a PhD in Educational Leadership at PVAMU. Dr. Kritsonis has chaired 23 dissertations wherein students have graduated and earned the PhD at PVAMU. He lives in Houston, Texas.

1. Are They Legal in Public Schools?
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

2.  "[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.

3. • 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.

4.  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.

5.  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.

6.  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.

7.  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.

8.  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.

9.  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.

10.  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.

11.  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.

12.  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.