Perry Township Schools
Bylaws & Policies
 

5771 - LOCKER SEARCH AND SEIZURE

Section I - Locker Search and Seizure

Statement of Policy

All lockers made available for student use on the school premises, including lockers located in the hallways, physical education and athletic dressing rooms, industrial education classrooms and art classrooms, are the property of the School Corporation. These lockers are made available for student use in storing supplies and personal items necessary for use at school but the lockers are not to be used to store items which cause, or can reasonably be foreseen to cause, an interference with school purposes or an educational function, or which are forbidden by State law or school rules. A student may not expect to have privacy in a locker or its contents.

The student’s use of the locker does not diminish the School Corporation’s ownership or control of the locker. The School Corporation retains the right to inspect the locker and its contents to ensure that the locker is being used in accordance with its intended purpose, to eliminate fire or other hazards, maintain sanitary conditions, attempt to locate lost or stolen materials, and to prevent use of the locker to store prohibited or dangerous materials such as weapons, illegal drugs, paraphernalia, or alcohol. (Refer to I.C. 20-33-8-32)

Locker Rules

In order to implement the school corporation's policy concerning student lockers, the Board adopts the following rules and regulations:

 A.Locks. The School Corporation will retain access to student lockers. Student may not use their own locks to prevent access to lockers by school officials. Any unauthorized locks will be removed without notice and destroyed.
 B.Use of Lockers. Lockers are to be used to store school supplies and personal items necessary for use at school. Lockers shall not be used to store "contraband"-items that cause, or can reasonably be foreseen to cause, an interference with school purposes or an educational function, or which are forbidden by State law or school rules, such as drugs, drug paraphernalia, beverages containing alcohol, weapons, any volatile substance, bomb or explosive devices, any acid or pungent or nauseous chemical, any library book not properly checked out or overdue, unreturned gym or athletic equipment, wet or mildewing articles, or stolen items. Students will be expected to keep their lockers clean and orderly.
 C.Authority to Inspect. All lockers, desks, and other storage areas provided for student's use on school premises remain the property of the School Corporation. These lockers are made available for student use in storing school supplies and personal items necessary for use at school. The principal shall conducted all inspections of student lockers or a member of the administrative staff (hereafter referred to as "designee") designated in writing by the principal. Principals are encouraged to have a witness, whenever possible, while conducting a locker inspection.
 D.General Inspection of all Lockers.
  Students lockers are school property and remain at all times under the control of the school; however, students are expected to assume full responsibility for the security of their lockers. School authorities for any reason may conduct periodic general inspections of all lockers at any time without notice, without student consent, and without a search warrant.
 E.Inspection of an Individual Student's Locker.
  1.Other than a general inspection of all lockers, whenever an individual student locker is the subject of a search based on reasonable suspicion of contraband being present, the student assigned to the locker being searched should be present during the search if possible.
  2.Reasonable Suspension. "Reasonable suspicion" as used in these rules may be based on a number of factors including, but not limited to: (1) information received by the principal, or designee, from teachers, students law enforcement officers, or detection devices, including trained dogs; (2) the past records of the student whose locker or vehicle is to be inspected; and (3) the seriousness of the problem to which the search is directed, such as violence or drug use in school; and/or (4) the behavior of the student, for example, indicated that the student is intoxicated.
  3.Before a particular student's locker is inspected, the student (or students if more than one has been assigned to a locker) shall be contacted where possible, and, if present on the school premises, given the opportunity to be present during the inspection, unless circumstances require that the inspection be conducted without delay in order to protect the health and safety of others present on school premises. Whenever an individual student's locker has been inspected under this rule without the student's presence, the principal, or designee, shall notify the student of the inspection as soon as possible after the inspection.
 F.Locker Maintenance. Nothing in these rules shall affect members of the custodial or other staff who repair defective lockers, clean out, or supervise the cleaning out of (a) lockers from time-to-time in accordance with a posted general housekeeping schedule; (b) the locker of a student no longer enrolled in the school; (c) a locker which is reasonably believed to contain rotting items, such as food, wet clothes, etc.
 G.Removal of Contraband. Whenever items are removed from a locker, an itemized list of all items removed will be made. This list will include the name of the student who occupies the locker, the date of removal, and the signature of each authorized staff member who participated in the removal. The list will be kept in an independent file for future reference.
 H.Disposal of Confiscated Contraband. All contraband confiscated from lockers may be disposed of by the principal, or designee, as is deemed appropriate, including (a) the return to the proper owner or place, (b) use as evidence of a crime, (c) destruction, (d) the delivery to the appropriate law enforcement agency after being properly identified by coded identification (not by a student's name) for safekeeping, contraband identification, or destruction, (e) due process hearing against student. Illegal contraband will be turned over to police.

Section II - Search of Students

The principal or another member of the administrative staff, designated in writing by the principal and acting at the direction of the principal, may search a student. Searches will be conducted based on reasonable suspicion (See Locker Rules #4). Searches of the person of a student shall be limited to:

 A.searches of the pocket of the student;
 B.searches of any object in the possession of the student;
 C.a "pat down" of the exterior of the student's clothing.

Searches of the person of a student that require removal of clothing, other than a coat or jacket, shall be referred to a law enforcement officer in accordance with Section IV of this policy. Searches of the person of a student shall be conducted in a private room by a person of the same sex as the student being searched. At least one but not more than three (3) additional persons of the same sex as the student being searched shall witness but not participate in the search. At the request of the student to be searched, an additional person of the same sex as the student, designated by the student and reasonably available on the school premises, shall witness the search. The parent or guardian of any student who is searched shall be notified of the search, as soon as is reasonably possible.

Section III - Search of Motor Vehicles

The principal or a member of the administrative staff may request a law enforcement officer to search a motor vehicle on school premises, subject to Section IV of this policy. Refusal by a student, parent or guardian, or the motor vehicle owner, to provide or allow access to a motor vehicle shall be cause for termination without further hearing of the privilege of bringing a motor vehicle onto school premises.

Section IV - Involvement of Law Enforcement Officials
 A.The principal, or designee, may request the assistance of law enforcement officials to search any area of the school premises, any student, or any motor vehicle on school premises for purposes of enforcing school policies only if such assistance is required to identify or dispose of anything that may be found in the course of a search and to protect the health and safety of persons or property.
 B.If a law enforcement official requests permission to inspect the contents of a student's locker, the principal shall require such official to provide a search warrant before allowing the inspection.
 C.If a law enforcement official requests the principal to make an inspection of a locker or its contents on behalf of, or in place of, such an official, the request shall be denied. However, upon request of law enforcement officials, school officials may secure the locker and its contents for a reasonable period of time in order to permit the law enforcement official an opportunity to obtain a search warrant.

I.C. 20-33-8-32
U.S. Constitution, 4th Amendment