Searches Protect Our Schools, Kids

I don’t know of any evidence that supports the assertion that searches at Locke High have not been performed randomly or that students have been picked out because of the way they look or the color of their skin.

The ACLU wrote us a letter several months ago generally contending that our policy was unconstitutional, not as applied but as written.

As I see it, the ACLU’s principal argument is that even if we follow our policy, we are violating these students’ 4th Amendment rights--that our policy does not pass constitutional muster.

No one has provided me with any specifics that suggest we have deviated from the policy. Had they done that, I’m not sure where we would be today, but certainly I would have looked into the factual allegations and if they were meritorious, tried to correct them.

I believe that given the circumstances at places like Locke, our random search policy will be sustained by the U.S. Supreme Court, if it gets that far.

We have high schools in the district that have serious problems. We’d all like those serious problems to go away, but they’re there. So the question is: How do we best protect our kids and our teachers in that kind of atmosphere? We can’t shut our eyes and say problems don’t exist when they do.

And after Columbine, after Santee, after Paducah and after Jonesboro, I think the parents in this district--and indeed a lot of the kids--want us to make sure that the school environments are weapon-free.

If these searches are what we need to do to get to an atmosphere that is safe enough for our kids, an atmosphere where we can actually teach the kids so they can think about learning and not worry about getting knifed or shot, then this is what we should be allowed to do.

We’re not picking on kids by their race; we’re not picking on kids by the color of their clothes. These are random searches. They are meant to be random so that every kid in that school worries that if he or she brings something illegal to school on a given day, he or she could be in real trouble because there might be a search.

I think the facts are clear that the policy has been effective. I believe that people view the policy as effective and as cutting down on the amount of violence in schools like Locke, and that the policy is justified.

It does not unduly stigmatize kids or unreasonably invade their privacy.

I will be interested to hear what the ACLU thinks is a reasonable way to protect kids that in their view infringes less on whatever their perceived right of privacy is.

I think we have designed a policy that we can defend legally and that has been effective.

This is not to be taken lightly, because we have various schools that unfortunately have histories of violence, places where parents are entirely justified at times in worrying about the safety of their kids.

We have done everything we possibly can to assure parents that their kids are safe when they’re on our campuses.

This policy is a significant element of how we’ve tried to cut down on the violence.