High Court Search Ruling Praised by School Officials

School officials applauded the Supreme Court on Tuesday for sanctioning the kind of “reasonable” searches of students they said already are being carried out by the vast majority of teachers and administrators.

The court’s decision approving a less stringent rule for school searches than that used by police “reaffirms what has been the law in California for years,” said Christina Dyer, legal counsel for the San Diego Unified School District.

The ruling “sustains what has been our practice for years,” agreed Ron Apperson, legal adviser for the Los Angeles city schools. “We believe it will help us maintain safe and orderly campuses.”

Until the high court’s ruling, many school officials across the country had been holding back on searches because they feared they would face civil rights suits filed by aggrieved students, according to Gwendolyn H. Gregory, an attorney with the National School Boards Assn.

However, representatives of civil liberties groups strongly criticized the decision.

“I think it will probably mean that students are going to be subjected to more intrusive searches in deprivation of their constitutional rights,” said Mary L. Heen, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

Purse Search at Issue

Much of the school officials’ fear had been triggered, according to Gregory, by a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that a school administrator who found drug paraphernalia when he searched a student’s purse had lacked “reasonable grounds” for the search.

But “now we can feel a little freer” to search students for drugs, weapons and other contraband, Ivan B. Gluckman, chief lawyer for the National Assn. of Secondary School Principals, said after the New Jersey decision was overturned Tuesday.

Robert Chanin, an attorney for the National Education Assn., said he thinks the high court’s decision struck a good balance between students’ rights and a school’s need to maintain discipline. The court said students still are protected by the Fourth Amendment, he pointed out, even though searches could be conducted on grounds of “reasonable suspicion” instead of the more demanding “probable cause.”

Chanin also said he thought the ruling would deter school officials from “onerous practices” such as “pat-searching young girls.”

But Janet Price, an attorney with Advocates for Children of New York City, was not so reassured.

“This decision may have a subtle, insidious effect in that it will be too broadly interpreted. I’m concerned there won’t be good enough reasons for searches,” she said.

” . . . I think searches of kids’ persons can cause a lot more problems than they solve. When school officials are too quick to start searching kids, it creates an armed-camp atmosphere.”

In the dissenting opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens suggested that the court’s ruling was overly broad, allowing searches for “even the most trivial school regulation”

In its decision Tuesday, the court ruled only on the right of school officials to search a student and his belongings; it did not pass direct judgment on what grounds officials must have to search lockers and desks.

But Dyer said San Diego school officials maintain the same “reasonable suspicion” policy for all searches. She disputed the suggestion that the ruling could result in abuses.

“I don’t think we’re going to be searching youngsters for violating the dress code. We don’t really have a dress code anymore,” Dyer said. “I think we take this very seriously and we’re not going to abuse it. We’re looking out for the safety of youngsters.”

Dyer said searches are generally conducted only when a student is suspected of possessing illegal drugs, weapons or stolen property. San Diego district procedures call for at least two adults to be present when a student search is conducted, she said.

William B. Padelford, superintendent of the Sweetwater Union High School District, said he believes searches should be conducted even when there is a “slim chance” that contraband will be found.

“It’s a case-by-case situation,” Padelford said. “If we’re going to make a mistake, I’d rather have the principal make the mistake and find that the evidence is not there, rather than have him hold back and then allow for a drug deal to take place.”

Padelford suggested that school officials have greater search powers than police officers because of a “greater responsibility.”