Can officials legally search a students person, property and locker at a public school?
ANSWER A public school student’s person, property and locker may be searched by law enforcement officers, but they are governed by many of the same limitations as any other police searches, including the Fourth Amendment which guarantees a student a limited right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Thus, searches conducted by school officials which are based on “reasonable suspicion” that a particular regulation or law has been violated will most likely be held valid by the courts. The search may be for items that violate school rules as well as illegal items. However, as the level of intrusiveness of the search increases, the reasons that justify the search must increase in strength as well, until they are most indistinguishable from probable cause. For example, strip searches are generally not approved by the courts except in the most serious of situations, while the use of metal detectors through which students must pass in order to enter the school building are perm
