Two-Part Test for Student Searches
Student searches by school officials and school safety officers on public
school property, school buses and at school events are justified if both
parts of the following test are met.
1. Search Justified at its Inception.
The search must be justified at its inception. That is, there
must be a reasonable
suspicion that the search will reveal evidence of a crime or
school rule violation.
2. Reasonable Scope.
The search must be reasonably related in scope to the
circumstances that
justified the initial suspicion. In other words, a search is
proper when the
measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of
the search and not
excessively intrusive given the type of infraction and the
age and gender of the
student.
