Pubdate: Mon, 06 Jul 2009
Source: New Orleans CityBusiness (LA)
Copyright: 2009 New Orleans Publishing Group
Contact: http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/contact.cfm
Website: http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4378
Author: Christian Moises

RULING SAID TO SHED LITTLE LIGHT ON STUDENT SEARCHES

Civil liberties advocates have cheered a U.S. Supreme  Court ruling
that the strip search of a 13-year-old  student in search of
prescription drugs was  unconstitutional.

But school officials say it gives little guidance on  how they can
balance the interests of protecting  students' privacy and keeping
dangerous drugs out of  the classroom.

"The decision is based on the level of dangerousness"  of the
suspected hidden drugs, said Francisco NegrA3n,  general counsel for
the National School Boards  Association. "But it is not clear from the
opinion what  the level of dangerous might be. aE& There are a lot of 
unanswered questions."

Student Savana Redding later brought a 1983 action  against the school
district, claiming her Fourth  Amendment rights were violated. The
U.S. Supreme Court  heard the case and held that Redding's
constitutional  rights were violated because the level of intrusion
was  not commensurate with the danger posed by the drug she  was
suspected of concealing: a prescription pill with  the strength of two
Advil.

The court ruled in Safford Unified School District No.  1 v. Redding
that because the standard established by  lower courts was not clear
at the time, school  officials were entitled to immunity from civil
claims.

Negron said that while the uncertainty over the rule might be enough
to shield school officials from liability going forward, it still
doesn’t give officials much guidance about how far they can go when
searching for banned drugs. But he did note that the opinion did not
outlaw strip searches altogether.

RSD nears completion on 3 Quick Start schools

Work is on track for the Recovery School District’s five Quick Start
schools announced in the fall of 2007, with three opening in the next
six months.

The first to come online will be Langston Hughes Elementary, which
will open for the 2009-10 school year.

RSD spokeswoman Siona LaFrance said, to her knowledge, the school will
be the first public building built from the ground up post-Katrina to
open in New Orleans.

Students from Andrew H. Wilson Elementary, which has been operating
out of McDonough No. 7, will move into new their new location for the
spring semester, while Greater Gentilly High School will move into its
new facility at the site of the former Lake Area High School around
the same time.

The only original Quick Start school not under construction is Fannie
C. Williams, which is in the design phase. This project initially was
slated for renovation but was changed to new construction when the
Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the building more than 50
percent damaged. That school is scheduled to be ready for the 2011-12
academic year.

LaFrance also said work on a “quicker start” school, Joseph Craig
Elementary, is scheduled for completion in December after the school
was closed in late 2007 for a complete renovation.
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