SERIES 5000: STUDENTS, CURRICULUM, AND ACADEMIC MATTERS
5100 Student Rights
5103 Search and Seizure
School officials may search a student and the student’s belongings if they have
reasonable suspicion that the search will reveal contraband or evidence of a violation of
law, Board Policy, or rule. In rare cases, school officials may conduct a search without
reasonable suspicion if there is an imminent threat of physical harm or death.
A reasonable suspicion search must be justified at its inception and reasonable in its
scope. A search is justified at its inception when school officials have reasonable
grounds to suspect that the search will uncover contraband or evidence of a violation of
law, Policy, or rule. A search is reasonable in scope when the measures used are
reasonably related to the search objectives and are not excessively intrusive in light of
the student’s age and sex and the nature of the infraction.
School officials are not required to have reasonable suspicion to search lockers or other
District property. See Policy 5102.
The District may use detection dogs to search for contraband on District property
consistent with Policy 3107.
A breath alcohol test is a search and may be administered upon reasonable suspicion
that a student has consumed or is under the influence of alcohol. For voluntary,
noncurricular school activities (e.g., school dances), suspicionless breath alcohol tests
may be administered for student health and safety purposes if students and their
parents/guardians have been provided advance written notice.
Strip searches are prohibited.
The building principal or designee will turn over to law enforcement illegal items and
dangerous weapons, as defined in Policy 5206, and may store in a secure place any
other contraband or evidence seized from a search until a disciplinary hearing.
This Policy does not apply to any outside entity that may require drug or breath alcohol
testing as a condition of participation. See Policy 5105.
Legal authority: MCL 380.1306, 380.1313(2)
Date adopted: 08/09/2021
Date revised:
