Arthur Said:

please direct me to yahoo's "help with math" (middle school) education search engine.?

We Answered:

Is this what you're looking for?

http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/School_Bell…

Elaine Said:

How can I search potential middle and high schools for my kids?

We Answered:

Try this link http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/dist…

Ray Said:

can a middle school principal search a student with out a parent or resource officer present?

We Answered:

If they were searching your bags or your locker than yes, they have full right to do so. The Supreme Court case of New Jersey v. T.L.O. decided that schools are alowed to search students possessions that they bring on school property as long as they have a reason. Like they can't just say "Hey Mike, come over here and open your bag!" just because, but if they think that Mike might have brought a gun to school, then they are fully within their rights to do so.

Sean Said:

Should the prinicple of a middle school go through students lockers and search if students have illegal items?

We Answered:

In the USA, the Supreme Court has determined that the principal does indeed have that authority if he has “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has been committed or a school rule has been broken.

However, the principal is almost certainly abusing his authority if he decides to search everyones' lockers without enough reasonable suspicion to actually justify searching that many lockers.

Wendy Said:

Can a middle school principal or police officer legally search a students backpack?

We Answered:

School children have a diminished expectation of privacy in a public school, and since their lockers are school property, they essentially have no privacy interests in their lockers or their contents.

In order for a search of the backpack to be "unreasonable" in the 4th amendment context, your son would have to have a subjective privacy expectation (he would personally have an expectation that the backpack contents would be private) and an objectively reasonable privacy expectation, which means that the general population would think that his expectation that the contents are private is reasonable.

Given the pervasive surveillance at a public high school, most courts would probably assume that he doesn't have an objectively reasonable privacy expectation.

Moreover, regulatory searches are not "unreasonable" if they are conducted under a neutral protocol. That's why everything you carry onto a commercial aircraft can be searched, or why the cops can setup a sobriety checkpoint on a road and check every vehicle. Since the school officials/cops searched every backpack, it can be catagorized as a regulatory search and is not unreasonable.