SCHOOLS WOULD SET OWN POLICY ON SEARCHING STUDENTS
UNDER LEGISLATION

A federal bill would require school boards to establish a policy
allowing teachers to search students they suspect of carrying drugs
or weapons.

The Student and Teacher Safety Act passed the House on a voice vote
in the fall, but the American Civil Liberties Union and National
School Boards Association oppose the bill, which they say violates
students' civil rights.

The most vocal critics of the proposal have called it a "strip search
bill."

Lawmakers say the bill would help protect students and teachers and
shield staff members who search students from being sued.

Locally, the issue of what constitutes a legal search of students
came to the forefront last month when a Larkin High School parent
claimed staff members there improperly searched her daughter, whom
they accused of hiding stolen money.

Elgin Area School District U-46 staff said teachers followed district
policy, and Elgin police cleared Larkin of wrongdoing.

District policy allows school officials to search lockers, desks,
parking lots and other school property and equipment for illegal
drugs or weapons. Searches may be general and random, and students
should have no expectation of privacy in those areas, according to
U-46 policy.

The policy does not specify if or when a staff member may search a
student, though it does allow staff to "pursue reasonable and proper
questioning of students when there is concern regarding safety, or
hazard or other impropriety."

The federal law would require schools put in place policies
permitting full-time staff members and teachers to search students on
school grounds if the search is done to ensure the school remains
free of weapons or illegal drugs.

Schools that fail to comply with the law would risk losing a portion
of their federal funding.

Though the U-46 policy does not specifically reference student
searches, U-46 Safety Coordinator John Heiderscheidt said he believes
district policy already complies with the requirements of the
proposed law.

If the law passed, U-46 would make its policy more specific, if
necessary, Heiderscheidt said.

Legislators who supported the bill emphasized it does not dictate
what the policy must entail, thereby giving schools and states the
freedom to draft their own language.

But the ACLU has said the proposed law is not specific enough and
gives school boards too much latitude to violate students' rights to
privacy and freedom from unreasonable search and seizures.

In a letter to Congress, the ACLU charged the legislation would
"further create a jail-like environment (in schools) by subjecting
students to searches similar to those that would be conducted in
prisons."

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, who co-sponsored the bill, cited recent cases of
school violence to support its passage.

"I trust the judgment of education professionals who should have
complete discretion to ensure their classrooms are drug- and
gun-free," the Highland Park Republican said in a statement.

The Senate has received a copy of the bill and referred it to
committee.