Since the beginning of this school year, a point of discussion on campus has been student searches. At a higher rate than in years prior, students have reported their belongings and persons being searched due to reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The increase in searches is largely due to an additional student advocate being hired on campus, giving AHS another pair of eyes looking out for suspicious activity.
Anora Villella, a senior at AHS, was recently the subject of an attempted search of her belongings. While using the women’s restroom in the cafeteria building, a woman she didn’t recognize instructed her to exit the bathroom and follow her to the office. Villella saw no reason to be suspected of behavior that was against the rules. She said, “I just kept walking and went home, and then came back to school with no bag so they wouldn’t go through my stuff. I didn’t want to miss class.”
When Villella asked what prompted the attempted search, she was told the same thing many students have heard. “She said it ‘smelled like vape’ in the bathroom. That was the only reason I got.” Villella was not the only person in the bathroom. She felt that it was unfair, and that she had the right to deny the search, stating, “it felt really weird to be treated like I did something wrong when I didn’t.”
Additionally, a point made by several students is that unlike marijuana or cigarettes, nicotine vapor from vape devices does not have a distinguishable smell. “Vape smells like fruit, basically,” said Villella. “Or perfume.” Some students make comments about how they’ve been chewing fruit-flavored gum and had their friends ask if they had been vaping, and other similar incidents. However, smoke in the bathroom does create a hazy atmosphere that could potentially be noticed by school officials when entering the bathroom.
Villella highlighted the need for students to be aware of their rights when school officials attempt to search them. Any AP Government student will tell you that our Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, and that probable cause and a warrant is needed before law enforcement can search a person, their house, their papers, or their effects. A 1985 SCOTUS case called New Jersey v. Terry Lee Owens (T.L.O.) established that the Fourth Amendment applies to school officials.
However, rather than probable cause, only reasonable suspicion is required to search a student. This is primarily because of a concept called “in loco parentis,” Latin for “in the place of a parent,” meaning that while students are at school, teachers and administrators are responsible for their safety in the same way a parent would be responsible for a child. Reasonable suspicion, according to the AHS handbook, must be “based upon specific and articulated facts to believe that the student personally poses or is in possession of some item that poses an immediate risk or serious harm to the student, school officials and/or others at the school.”
It’s important to note that administration does not search anyone randomly unless that student has been previously caught with/doing something against school rules or the law. The “random” searches that seem to be circulating in rumors around campus have most likely been for this reason or simply weren’t random at all. AHS Dean Sarah Weston states that most of the time, students are searched due to visible signs of an infraction (reasonable suspicion) or anonymous tips through the “See Something, Say Something” reporting system.
Both Weston and Assistant Principal Francisco Lopez Atanes emphasize that they don’t start their day with the mission of searching a certain number of students or their belongings, and that safety is always their end goal. Substance use and other unlawful behavior negatively affect those participating and bystanders alike; the reason students are being searched is because the adults around them care about their safety.
Pamphlets about the rules of student searches are available in the main office. If you are concerned about yourself or someone around you, don’t hesitate to reach out.
