Sarasota County Schools Search and Seizure Policy
TO:
FROM:
Date:
SUBJECT: SEARCH AND SEIZURE POLICY
The Sarasota County Schools’ board requires teachers and staff within the school premises to follow the search and seizure policy procedures when conducting searches on students within the school premises. The policy states that if the school principal or school employees assigned by the school principal have a suspicion that an illegally possessed or prohibited object or substance is held in a student’s locker, vehicle parked within the school compound, or any other area within the school, the designee or principal may search the vehicle, storage area or locker to disclose the presence of the illegally possessed or prohibited property (Sarasota County Schools, 2024)). The policy focuses on improving the safety of the students and staff within the school environment and deterring students from carrying illegal or prohibited material to school.
The board’s policy aligns with the law because it prevents the violation of the Fourth Amendment law against unreasonable search and seizure. Roberts (2017) argues that United States law allows school officials to search students if the search is reasonable in scope and valid at inception. Therefore, the Sarasota County Schools’ board’s policy aligns with the laws on the validity of student searches because it guarantees that all searches are reasonable. The policy also aligns with the law that prevents the storage of illegal or prohibited material in schools. According to the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (2022), Florida school discipline laws and regulations require school principals or employees assigned by the principal to search students’ lockers and other storage areas if they have reasonable suspicion that a student holds illegally possessed or prohibited objects or substances. Therefore, Sarasota County School’s board search and seizure policy aligns with the national laws that prevent unreasonable searches and school discipline laws that give principals the authority to search students’ property to prevent the storage of illegal or prohibited materials in the school. However, the policy violates the Fourth Amendment law on privacy rights. For instance, the policy states that school board employees, students, parents, and the public should be informed that the public school environment is the school board’s property and no one using the property within the school environment should expect privacy around or in the school environment (Sarasota County Schools, 2024). This statement indicates that the school denies anyone within the school environment the right to privacy based on the assumption that the school board owns everything within the school environment.
According to Wells & Clayton (2017), laws provide ethics statements that outline expected dispositions and behaviors, identify personal intent, and strengthen the commitments expected from educators in their roles in representing public schools in the country and nation. Therefore, the lack of Sarasota County Schools’ board policy alignment with the law affects a school principal by increasing liability for violation of the First Amendment law that guarantees students the right to privacy. The lack of alignment also increases the risk of principals having reduced capacity to make legal decisions. Trimmer et al. (2018) argue that a principal’s beliefs about the law being accurate or not may influence legal decision-making. Therefore, the principal of Sarasota County Schools may be unable to determine whether conducting a search and seizure on students is within legal requirements or not. The lack of alignment also impacts the school district by increasing a preference for private schools that involve parents in setting policies affecting students and anyone assessing the school premises, such as parents and staff. Therefore, Sarasota County Schools should amend the search and seizure policy to guarantee the right to privacy for students, staff, and parents who assess and use the school premises.
References
National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments. (2022). Florida compilation of School Discipline Laws and Regulations. https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/sites/default/files/discipline-compendium/Florida School Discipline Laws and Regulations.pdf
Roberts, N. (2017). A Teacher’s Constitutional Right to Be Free from Unreasonable Searches & Seizures in The School Workplace: What Standard Should Be Applied? https://education.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/law/24-D9Roberts.pdf
Sarasota County Schools. (2024). 5.31 — Student detention search and seizure. https://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=3271&ViewID=C9E0416E-F0E7-4626-AA7B-C14D59F72F85&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=41479&PageID=2667&Comments=true
Trimmer, K., Dixon, R., & Findlay, S. Yvonne. (2018). The Palgrave Handbook of Education Law for Schools. Springer International Publishing.
Wells, M., & Clayton, C. (2017). Foundations of American Education: A critical lens. Open Textbook Library. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/1110
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Question 
Instructions
Identify a school board policy related to search and seizure regarding student rights:
Search and seizure is a procedure used by police or other authorities, who, suspect that a crime has been committed, in which they search a person’s property and keep any relevant evidence found in connection to the crime.
Sarasota County Schools Search and Seizure Policy
In a 2 page memo to the superintendent, offer your critique of the policy by addressing the following:
Determine if the board policy aligns with the law.
Explain why it does or why it doesn’t align.
Explain how this alignment or lack of alignment with the law affects a school principal. Then identify the impact on the district.
Support your critique with five references.
Include a copy of the policy in an addendum to the memo. Note: School board policies are typically located on a district or school website.