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 ResearchThe following is a case study, which presents the school administrator with his or her legal options when discipline proceedings in the event of a search and seizure situation.Description of SituationLillian, a fourteen year old eighth grader, is caught using a cell phone during a standardized test. She is caught by the classroom teacher sending and receiving texts. The teacher takes the phone and sends the student to the office. The school has a detailed policy banning the use of cell phones by students during the school day. Students are given paperwork at the beginning of the school year explaining the policy and the consequences of violating this rule. All students must read and return the papers, along with other essential forms, within ten days. Both the student and the student’s parents or legal guardians must sign the form acknowledging notification of this policy. (A copy of the school’s cell phone policy can be found attached at the conclusion of this paper.)The principal, Mr. Reagan, asks the student why she needed to use her phone and tries to ascertain who she was texting. The student clams up in the principal’s office and refuses to talk. Principal Reagan is not only concerned about the rule violation, but also about potential cheating on the all-important statewide standardized test. Can Principal Reagan legally open the student’s text messages to determine if cheating occurred and/or if any other students on campus were in violation of the cell phone policy during school hours? Legal Analysis As the use of technology now permeates nearly every aspect of our modern society, with first graders carrying iPods and ten year olds on Facebook, schools must deal with a myriad of legal and ethical issues regarding student technology use. In order to determine the legal parameters in this case, the details of the specific situation must be compared with recent court decisions. Many questions.centering on the search of students in public schools rely on the precedent set by New Jersey vs. T.L.O. In 1985, two high school freshmen were caught smoking in a school bathroom. Smoking by students was not banned, but the rules designated one smoking area on campus. Smoking in other locations was not permissable. The teacher who caught the two girls took them directly to the principal's office. The first student admitted smoking and breaking school rules. However the second student, whose initials were T.L.O. denied ever smoking in her life. Once she had lied to the principal, a search of her purse was conducted. A pack of cigarettes was found confirming the teacher's account. When the cigarettes were removed, marijuana and documentation of drug sales were found. The case made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The court looked at the student's general expectation of privacy and freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizure" under the Fourth Amendment, and the school's need to enforce school rules and maintain discipline. The justices found that the school was justified in searching the student's purse. Schools are not required to have search warrants prior to conduct searches of students. The court ruled that schools do not have to adhere to the same standard of establishing probable cause. The standard set by this decision said that the search only needed to be reasonable. Similar rulings have been found in other cases as well. Since the school had a reasonable assumption that the student had broken a school rule, and the evidence confirming it would likely be found in her possession, the initial search was permitted. Upon conducting that search they found evidence of other violations of both school rules and state laws. A federal court in Mississippi upheld a school district’s right to take and search the cell phone of a student who was caught reading a text from his father in school. Once they began the search of the student’s phone, they found evidence of gang activity. The DeSoto County School District also had a specific cell phone policy that the student was clearly violating. The fact that the student was caught using the phone showed one rule violation and prompted suspicion that others could be broken as well warranting the search. This has become a hot button issue across the country. Virginia’s Attorney Generasl Ken Cuccinelli offered an opinion that searches of student cell phone or laptops was justified with reasonable suspicion in a 2010 Education Week article. In cases where the school has not been vindicated in a cell phone search, the administrators clearly overstepped the bounds ofwhat was reasonable. Administrators have gotten in trouble for looking beyond the imnmediate cause for their search to investigate old pictures or texts on the student’s phone. Some have posed as the student to contact friends in the school to garner more evidence or to determine if other students in the school were violating the cell phone policy. The courts have been less favorable to these situations where the search is more widespread without justification and in instances where administrators are deceiving students or engaging in a form of entrapment. Obviously dealing with student property and technology as advanced as modern smart phones and laptops can be tricky for any school system across the country. It seems the way to best be protected from a legal standpoint is to have a defined and consistent cell phone policy and to keep searches limited only to what is necessary to maintain school order and discipline. Any school administrator should develop a comprehensive technology use policy. Keeping up on the latest legal decisions on issues related to student rights and technology use is also essential for all school and county administrators. Action Plan 1. Question the student about alleged cell phone use to determine reason for infraction and if any other.rules have been broken, such as cheating on a standardized test. 2. Locate the signed cell phone policy form on file in student records. Review this policy with student. 3. Contact student's parents about rule violation, cell phone policy procedures, and need to search phone messages to determine if testing conditions were compromised. The search should be limited to the student’s text messages or calls during the testing window. There is no need to look through older texts, calls, or saved pictures since there is no evidence of prior wrongdoing to warrant a search. Keeping the search limited and narrow in scope helps to justify the search and avoid legal gray areas. 4. Ask another staff member to be present to witness the phone search. The student should remain in the room, and the parents may be present as well if they wish to be. 5. Determine if text message content was related to testing content. 6. If messages are found to be unrelated to the test, the incident of cheating is disproven. The student would then receive standard consequences for cell phone violations, including automatic detention and possible retention of the phone. 7. If the messages are related to test answers or material, all students involved will face the repurcussions of breaking rules concerning cell phones and academic honesty. Local and state testing officials should be made aware of the testing irregularities and await recommendations on further action needed. Students may have results nullified or may have to retake portion of test in question. Sleepy Hollow Middle School Cell Phone Policy for Students 1. Cell phones may be carried by students on campus for emergencies and use before and after the official school day. 2. If students carry a cell phone, it must be turned off and put away (in a locker, backpack, or purse) during instructional hours. If parents need to contact their child during the school day, they may call the main office to speak to their child or to leave a message. 3. The school is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged phones. 4. Students who are caught using their phones during the school day will face disciplinary action by school administrators. Phone use that violates school policy will result in the seizure of the phone. Parents will be asked to retrieve the phone from the school office after a meeting discussing the incident with the school administrator. 5. Students will receive automatic detention for cell phone violations. 6. Students who violate the policy repeatedly can have their phones held in the office for up to two weeks. 7. The contents of a student’s phone (including texts, pictures, or call history) may be subject to search if the student is suspected of violating the law or school rules. 8. Students may not lend their phones to other students during the school day. If a student uses another student’s phone to violate this policy both the owner of the phone and the user of the phone will face disciplinary action. 9. This form must be signed and returned within the first ten days of school. Thank you for your prompt attention to this and all important school forms. Student’s name (printed) ________________________________ Date: __________ Student’s name (signed) _________________________________ Parent’s name (printed) __________________________________ Date:__________ Parent’s name (signed) __________________________________ References New Jersey v. T. L. O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985) J.W. v. DeSoto County Sch. Dist., No 09-00155 (N.D. Miss. Nov. 11, 2010) PracticeGreat leaders are not employed to inflict pain, they bear it, and they do not absorb praise but rather redirect it to the deserving! Instructional leadership was the “old” way of top down administration to “take charge and get things done”. This method impedes teamwork and decentralized the organization from within causing everyone to hate the boss! Understandably so in my opinion! With great relief to our educational system James McGregor Burns in the late 70’s instituted a “new” way of thinking and leading within the school system. He based his Transformational Leadership system on political leaders, army officers, and business executives, to then be applied within the school with great success. The “new” system of transformational leadership is from the bottom up approach designating power to the people instead of the dictator. Transformational leadership motivates, inspires, challenges, and unifies the staff toward a common vision and goal of student achievement through educator achievement. Many workers have a one track mind for a pay-check. The new system broadens their ability to see new goals for their work and to better the organization and the vision. “Consensual power” is the focus of leadership in the schools today and student achievement is on the rise. I ask myself after reading this section “who would not be in favor of transformational leadership system?” Fidel Castro is the only name to come to mind! Any system to incorporate the views and needs of the staff into important decisions will make the best choices and everyone will feel empowered in making, supporting, and carrying out the said plans.I like the three simple goals: 1. Help staff develop and maintain a collaborative, professional school culture. 2. Fostering teacher development. 3. Help teachers solve problems more effectively. These would be easy to post somewhere on our desk to always remind us of the mission and means of attaining a collaborative school environment. ReflectionTo start the week I decided it was time to think “one job up” so I started wearing a neck tie. Not a big deal for an office worker but I have been the Suncrest Woodshop Teacher for eight years now and I don’t wear a neck tie because it could get caught in a machine. Needless to say everyone noticed. That’s exactly my objective. Look like an administrator to become an administrator.My official contract declares the start time as 7:45 however I have always prided myself on arriving early. I start my days by arriving to school around 7:00 to start a pot of coffee, and preparing a few materials needed for my first and second period classes. Once I feel prepared for classes I go to the commons area to greet students as they arrive in the morning. Suncrest opens the door for students to enter at 7:30. As I sip my coffee I discuss general issues with the head custodian, and await the arrival of my co-workers. Most mornings I supervise student breakfast and bus arrival from 7:30-8:25. Monday mornings I meet with my specialist team during this time for our PLC time. We have started a book study that I estimate should take about 8 weeks to complete. The book is titled “What great teachers do differently” by Todd Whittaker, I have also been reading in my free time “What great principals do differently” from the same author. Sure is a busy life trying to teach full time and also assume some duties as “Student Administrating” as I have been titling this residency experience to my coworkers. Wednesday morning I was invited to sit in on a literacy team meeting to discuss topics including: Read 180, Writing assessment, Young writers contest, Acuity, Reading/writing across the curriculum, Monthly school-wide writing prompts, and the next meeting scheduled for April 11th 2012. Wednesday evening I stayed after school to supervise a girl’s basketball game from 5:00 to 9:00. During this time I greeted parents and students at the main entrance, unlocked doors for a referee changing room, bandaged a cheerleader’s wrist and prepared an ice pack after she took a hard fall before the game. I then contacted her parent to inform the mother of the accident. I announced the 50/50 winner at halftime and discussed many students with parents as we socialized at the event. The students were excited to see me in attendance of their game and I made a point to tell each of the players what a great player they were that night as they shuffled out after the game had ended. By 9:15 everyone was gone and I locked all the doors and headed home for the night. Thursday I again stayed after school to supervise a band concert for parents and family from 6:00-9:00. I live in a different county than I work so I stayed at the school and helped the band director setup audio/visual equipment, computers, and misc. other items for the evening show. I noticed many of the family members in attendance that night were elderly and some disabled so I took it upon myself to set up special “comfy” chair seating for individuals in need of seating other than the gymnasium bleachers. They were very surprised and grateful for the added service. Administration is about going the extra mile to ensure all needs are met, safety guidelines are ensured, and overall a healthy educational environment is supported. Throughout the week my principal and vice principal have been allowing me to assist in some easier student discipline needs. One such encounter was involving a Behavior Disorder 8th grade male student who threw a milk carton full of food and yelled a bad name at another student during lunch. I called this student into the office where we sat down and calmly talked about how to avoid situations like this where his emotions get out of hand. We then discussed how it would make others around him feel “uncomfortable” and if the roles were reversed. He began to see the light. We agreed that a 5 day sit out period at lunch would be a fair punishment for his actions and he assured me that his behavior at lunch would improve. Behavior Disorders are a unique student need I have dealt with many years now and have found that such behaviors can be “killed with kindness”. Talking and agreeing upon a solution, not yelling, are always the best way to deal with BD students and de-escalate any emotional situation. |
