Strip Searches by Aides Prompt Review of Lawndale School Hiring : Education: Superintendent calls for measures to prevent such ‘unfortunate’ incidents. Parents of students hire lawyer.

The Lawndale School District superintendent, in his most explicit remarks about the strip search of several students by two aides, has called the incident improper and has vowed a review of hiring procedures.

Meanwhile, the parents of two of the students have hired a lawyer, who termed the searches inappropriate but stopped short of saying a lawsuit was forthcoming.

The district has not completed its investigation into the search, which was conducted at Rogers Intermediate School after a teacher complained she was missing $400 following a field trip to a shopping mall. The two aides, a man and woman, remain suspended with pay pending the outcome of the district attorney’s investigation.

But Supt. Joseph D. Condon assured parents in a recent letter that the district is “aggressively and swiftly taking steps to address the incident.”

In his letter to parents Condon called the incident “unfortunate” and “not within the boundaries of normal procedure.”

The district, Condon said, is also reviewing ways to conduct more thorough background checks of job applicants. Although Condon did not indicate that anything inappropriate had been found in the backgrounds of the aides, he did say hiring procedures would be reviewed to determine if applicants might be prone to such unusual measures.

“We’re looking into what information we require from applicants, so we can take steps to eliminate the possibility of this kind of thing happening again,” he said.

The school district offered counseling to the students and parents, but Condon said he did not know if any had accepted.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Fred Klink said he has been re-interviewing the students to determine whether criminal charges against the school employees involved in the search would be appropriate.

The state education code prohibits strip searches but there is no criminal law specifically prohibiting them, Klink said. Instead, he said, his inquiry is focusing on whether the aides inflicted mental suffering on the children.

The 15 students were searched Dec. 13 after a trip to the Galleria at South Bay in Redondo Beach. The excursion was part of a consumer math lesson.

A male school aide had the 10 boys remove their clothes during the search, authorities have said. In another room, a female aide searched the girls’ clothes, but authorities have not said if the girls had to remove all their clothing or whether they had to disrobe in front of the aide.

*

Robert Myers, a former Santa Monica city attorney who practices education law in Sherman Oaks, said he has been retained by the parents of two of the students.

It is too early to decide whether to file a lawsuit against the district, Myers said.

But he said he believed the action taken by the school aides was inappropriate and unjustified.