General Rules
- Students have a constitutional right to be protected from unreasonable
searches by public school officials.
- The unique nature of the public school environment and the fact that
students have lower privacy expectations at schools than in other public
places means that the rules governing student searches by public school
officials are different from the rules governing searches in other public
places.
- Student searches by school officials and school safety officers on
public school property or school buses and at school events must be based
on reasonable suspicion.
Defining Reasonable Suspicion
Reasonable suspicion: A well-founded
suspicion based on objective facts that can be articulated of either
criminal activity or a violation of school rules.
Reasonable suspicion is more than a mere hunch or supposition.
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