Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 Source: Savannah Morning News (GA) Copyright: 2002 Savannah Morning News Contact: http://www.savannahnow.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/401 Author: Jenel Few Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) STUDENTS' RIGHTS VS. SAFETY Area Student Joins National Debate And Questions Need For Campus Sweeps And Student Searches The intercom sounds just as the morning chatter starts to die down and students prepare for first period to begin. But the announcement students hear is not a morning greeting, the lunch menu, or even the flag salute. It's the principal announcing that the school is on lockdown and all students should remain in their classrooms. Drug sniffing dogs and deputy sheriffs are on hand and soon the campus, cars and lockers will be searched. Bryant Courtney, a South Effingham High School sophomore last academic year, was shocked at the way his classmates lined up and turned out their pockets without question during a random drug search. Even students who had been through civics class and memorized the preamble and the Constitution never raised an eyebrow, he said. "Most students have had a citizenship class but frankly I think they're used to their rights being violated," Courtney said. Frustrated, Courtney researched the law and found that his Fourth Amendment rights as a student were not the same as his Fourth Amendment rights as a citizen. In an era of school shootings and casual teen drug use, drug searches and zero-tolerance policies have been implemented in the nation's schools to achieve safe, drug-free environments. However some basic freedoms were sacrificed in the process. In the name of safety State, local and some federal laws stemming back to the late 1960s have made it increasingly possible for schools to limit student rights for the purpose of increasing student safety, according to the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education at Columbia University. The degree of protection a student has under the Fourth Amendment was determined by a 1985 case involving a high school girl who was accused of breaking her school's smoking rule. When she was searched officials found not only cigarettes, but evidence that she sold drugs on campus. In this case, New Jersey v. T.L.O, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that students are protected by the Fourth Amendment during school searches. But there is no need for a warrant if school officials have "reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school." The extent of the search should be conducted with the objectives of the search, the student's age and sex and the nature of the infraction in mind, according to the ruling. Later case law made it possible for school officials to consider a student's school record and history when justifying a search. In some states, strip searches are allowed in schools. They are supposed to be conducted only in extreme cases, where there is well-informed suspicion of a specific individual and the immediate safety of other students. Some schools have gone as far as requiring students and athletes to take drug tests to prevent drug use in their schools. However, that practice has been contested and will be heard by the U.S. Supreme court before their term ends this month. "They can't do this to any other group of people," Courtney said. "A safe school shouldn't supersede a student's rights." Deputy Varnard Reese, South Effingham County Sheriff's Deputy and School Resource Officer said the searches he conducts in South Effingham's middle and high schools may seem like a nuisance or an infringement to some, but consider the alternative. "It's a trade off," Reese said. "They give up those freedoms to ensure their safety." Reese determines the random dates when the drug searches will take place. The school principal isn't even informed until he and a Chatham County K-9 unit are on their way. He typically schedules two each school year in each of the middle and high schools. Teams consisting of two deputies, one school administrator, a dog handler and a drug dog sweep, parking lots, restrooms, lockers, hallways an classrooms. The dogs are used to sniff out illegal drugs in the building while deputies wave hand-held metal detectors over each student to check for weapons. When illegal drugs, alcohol, drug paraphernalia or weapons are found students are taken to the office where administrators weigh the severity of the evidence to determine whether to punish the student in school or have them arrested. Even prescription drugs are a no-no. "We have a lot of kids stealing prescription drugs from their parents and grandparents -- we even had one kid who stole drugs belonging to a deceased parent," Reese said. "They know what they can take to get high." Favorites include Ritalin a behavior modification drug commonly used for attention-deficit children and a central nervous system depressant and powerful prescription painkiller called Oxycontin, according to Reese. If he were policing the street, Reese said he would never be able to search someone without a warrant, but search laws were softened in the schools as a way to prevent crime and he rarely hears complaints. "The parents support it and the kids do too, they don't want these things in their schools," Reese said. But the nation's stance on school safety created a situation in which Courtney began to feel as if he were walking into the realm of Big Brother every time went to school. Graham Boyd, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Policy Litigation Project said schools are allowed to bring in drug dogs to search lockers and cars but not the students themselves. And because lockers are school property, they have the legal right to open and search them at will. However students still have some right to privacy on campus. "They can't go up and down the rows in a classroom with the dogs sniffing at the students," he said. And in cases when money goes missing, school officials should have reason to suspect that particular individuals are in possession of the missing or stolen items. Then they should only conduct a search of those individuals. "You can't just round up people and say hey, I don't know if you have anything on you but I want to search you all just to make sure," Boyd said. Reese said school administrators make the call on searches for lost or stolen money or for reports of weapons or drugs. The South Effingham High School Principal and the school superintendent did not respond to calls for comment. Safety vs. student rights Out of frustration Courtney said he tried to give students a voice by publishing a student newspaper and even ran for student government proposing a Student's Bill of Rights. During the campaign he posted his bill of rights on campus before first period. He said it called for administrators to change policy to be more respectful of student's rights, including obtaining warrants before searching students. Courtney said he soon realized that he didn't have the support of the school's teachers and administrators and decided to drop out of the race. Unable to create changes on his campus, Courtney joined a national student rights organization called the National Student Advocacy Alliance and has worked with the other student organizers throughout the country to start a national student political movement. The National Student Advocacy Alliance is a student-led organization designed to promote student rights and political power and dedicated to the promotion of policy that is fair to young people. The strict code of conduct developed by the Savannah Chatham County School Board may seem unfair to some Savannah students, but board members feel their tough disciplinary policies are more than justified. Since 1996 three young lives have been lost in violent gun episodes on and around Savannah's school grounds. To the board, preventative measures like metal detectors, occasional searches, see-through bags and the removal of lockers seem like a small price to pay. "Students view it as a hassle," Savannah-Chatham County Schools Board Member Lori Brady. "But we've had a child killed in our schools." Brady said students need to understand that school administrators have struggled to come up with the best options for maintaining a safe, drug- and crime-free environment in schools. "It's unfortunate that we're in an era where we have to do this," she said. "But that student sitting next to you in class could have a gun in his pocket and searches are the best way we can prevent that. The bottom line is safety." School searches and sweeps sometimes turn up seemingly innocent items, such as a metal nail file tucked away in a make-up bag or a forgotten kitchen knife in the back of the messy family station wagon. But under school policy those items are illegal contraband and a student who brings them to school could be subject to suspension, expulsion and even arrest. There have been several cases throughout the country, and even in Savannah, when a student with innocent intentions is found guilty under zero tolerance rules. Georgia School Superintendent Association, Executive Director Herb Garret said zero-tolerance policies can become a nightmare for school administrators. "Most of these policies are a reaction to incidents of drugs and crime. It became a national phenomenon -- no tolerance for drugs, no tolerance for severe discipline problems," he said. "But they sometimes remove the ability to treat each situation on its own merit." In 2000 a Jenkins High School junior named Brian Agnew was suspended when an anonymous tip led school authorities to a knife, ax and cell phone used for Boy Scouting that were locked in the trunk of his car. Agnew was a senior patrol leader for Boy Scout Troop 26 and was using the tools while completing his Eagle Scout project -- an outdoor trail at May Howard Elementary School. But Boy Scout or not, the items were on the contraband list and the honors student was suspended and had to finish out his junior year at an alternative school. Although the Agnew case received national media attention and elicited severe criticism of unforgiving zero tolerance and the limitation of freedoms in public schools, local board members insist that their school administrators have the right to use discretion in each individual case and say that their policies get far more support than complaints. "The only time that I hear someone say that it's gone too far is when their child is accused," Hamilton said. He argued that students are protected under the Fourth Amendment. "Their rights are protected because they have due process," Hamilton said. In most school districts, students who are accused of violating the code of conduct may appeal the decision to the local and state school boards. If those attempts fail they are free to pursue their case through the legal system. But that provides no solace to a student like Courtney who doesn't feel he should be expected to sacrifice his privacy and comply with random searches for drugs, weapons and lost items. "Clear bags and searches have been fought all the way up to the Supreme Court and they found that school boards have a right to do these things to protect children," Hamilton said. "It's a safety issue. With all that's going on in the community, the schools have a right and an obligation to make sure children are safe." According to Boyd, there's no reason why schools can't prevent violence, drugs and crime without infringing upon a student's civil rights. "In most cases these things aren't in contention at all," he said. But the best prevention tool, according to Boyd, doesn't detect drugs or beep when it finds a metal object. "The best ways schools can prevent these problems is to engage students in after school and athletic activities," Boyd said. Pushing the issue Bryant Courtney moved to the Atlanta area this summer but said he has not been discouraged by his unsuccessful political efforts in South Effingham. "Students are apathetic and afraid of change," he said. "It's hard to reverse wrongs that have been accepted for so long." Despite the trips to the principal's office and the debates with school officials, Jeanette Courtney-Cross, Bryant Courtney's mother, said she's proud of her son's controversial stance. The issue of student rights may not be resolved in South Effingham or across the nation, but Courtney proved that he is passionate and willing to stand up for what he thinks is right. "Bryant came out of the womb wanting justice for all," she said. His activism began at age 13 when he broke a plastic part on his brand-new computer. Despite the manufacturer's claim that the warranty didn't cover plastic parts, Courtney discovered that there was nothing in the warranty that specifically excluded his broken part. His mother said he spent a week making calls and talking to the manufacturer's legal department and a corporate attorney eventually called her to say that they were going to have to replace the part and change their warranty because of the loophole that Courtney found. Life would probably be easier if Courtney would sit back, be quiet and stop making waves, according to his mother. But she said that's not the way to become a strong, independent, intellectual adult. "Last year a school official asked wasn't I concerned about Bryant becoming a troublemaker and wasn't I concerned about Bryant disrespecting authority," Courtney-Cross said. "I told him it's easier to teach our children to just sit and listen than to teach them to have individual thought." - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel