MCLU and Winslow High School Reach Agreement on Student Privacy

No Student Strip Searches by School Officials

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 27, 2007

Portland- The Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation and attorneys for Winslow High School announced today that the school has agreed to clarify its student search policy to prohibit strip searches of students by school staff members.  The MCLU approached the school earlier this year after hearing from a student who had been required to remove all her clothing above the waist during a search for drugs.  The change in the student search policy came about as a result of the discussions between the MCLU and Winslow School Department attorneys. 

“We applaud Winslow High’s decision,” said Zachary Heiden, Legal Director of the MCLU Foundation.  “They are setting an outstanding example for schools around the state, by showing you can keep students safe while reasonably respecting their privacy.”

Courts across the country, including the United States Supreme Court have long wrestled with the question of how much constitutional protection is due students in public schools.  Most famously, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in Tinker v. Des Moines that “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”  That 1969 case involved the right of students to wear black armbands in support of a truce in the Vietnam War, a right the U.S. Supreme Court upheld.  Since then, courts have also considered how the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure applies in schools. 

Student lockers, cars, and backpacks are often subjected to search, but the MCLU expressed concern about students being required to remove clothing.  The school agreed that such searches will not be conducted by school administrators or staff members, although police may be contacted and may search when a student is suspected of possessing contraband.

“Schools in Maine do an excellent job of keeping students safe, using all reasonable tools at their disposal,” said Bruce Smith, an attorney with Drummond Woodsum who counsels schools and school boards about student rights and school responsibilities.  “As government actors, schools have to play by the rules and the rules, including a right to privacy, are set out in the Constitution.”

The MCLU Foundation and Winslow High have jointly agreed not to discuss the matter further publicly.  

#####