RULING SAID TO SHED LITTLE LIGHT ON STUDENT SEARCHES

Civil liberties advocates have cheered a U.S. Supreme Court ruling
that the strip search of a 13-year-old student in search of
prescription drugs was unconstitutional.

But school officials say it gives little guidance on how they can
balance the interests of protecting students' privacy and keeping
dangerous drugs out of the classroom.

"The decision is based on the level of dangerousness" of the
suspected hidden drugs, said Francisco NegrA3n, general counsel for
the National School Boards Association. "But it is not clear from the
opinion what the level of dangerous might be. aE& There are a lot of
unanswered questions."

Student Savana Redding later brought a 1983 action against the school
district, claiming her Fourth Amendment rights were violated. The
U.S. Supreme Court heard the case and held that Redding's
constitutional rights were violated because the level of intrusion
was not commensurate with the danger posed by the drug she was
suspected of concealing: a prescription pill with the strength of two
Advil.

The court ruled in Safford Unified School District No. 1 v. Redding
that because the standard established by lower courts was not clear
at the time, school officials were entitled to immunity from civil
claims.

Negron said that while the uncertainty over the rule might be enough
to shield school officials from liability going forward, it still
doesn’t give officials much guidance about how far they can go when
searching for banned drugs. But he did note that the opinion did not
outlaw strip searches altogether.

RSD nears completion on 3 Quick Start schools

Work is on track for the Recovery School District’s five Quick Start
schools announced in the fall of 2007, with three opening in the next
six months.

The first to come online will be Langston Hughes Elementary, which
will open for the 2009-10 school year.

RSD spokeswoman Siona LaFrance said, to her knowledge, the school will
be the first public building built from the ground up post-Katrina to
open in New Orleans.

Students from Andrew H. Wilson Elementary, which has been operating
out of McDonough No. 7, will move into new their new location for the
spring semester, while Greater Gentilly High School will move into its
new facility at the site of the former Lake Area High School around
the same time.

The only original Quick Start school not under construction is Fannie
C. Williams, which is in the design phase. This project initially was
slated for renovation but was changed to new construction when the
Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the building more than 50
percent damaged. That school is scheduled to be ready for the 2011-12
academic year.

LaFrance also said work on a “quicker start” school, Joseph Craig
Elementary, is scheduled for completion in December after the school
was closed in late 2007 for a complete renovation.