is my school allowed to search our cars and backpacks?

Question

i go to a small prep school and there is a lot of buzz about the school finding out about all the kids who do drugs and a lot of rumors that theres going to be a search and/or drug testing.
are they allowed to legally search cars and backpacks without probable cause?

Answer 1

Absolutely. Private schools especially can search anything anytime without a warrant. My kids attend a private school .

Answer 2

I'm going to second everyone's answers so far (except for Enigma - nothing personal, but you obviously don't know U.S. case law). Public Schools need "reasonable suspicion" to conduct a search, which is a much lower standard of belief then what the police need. Private schools are not part of the government so all those protections you are afforded by the Bill of Rights don't apply.
Yes, I too understand that this results in students having less rights then other citizens, but the rational behind this decision all stems from the goal to protect the students. While students are in school, their parents are not around to protect them so the school must provide this protection. If a student has a weapon or drugs in/on school grounds, that poses a risk to himself/herself and/or other students.

Answer 3

White vinegar is the ONLY way! Anything else will just cover the odor. Put it in a spray bottle & lightly spray then put outside to dry. Odor will dissapate in a matter of a few hours or less. I have a backpack in my my washer w/ my small bathroom rug right now. Ask whoever does the wash for this special favor next time they wash! It needs room to move around freely so only wash w/ 1 or 2 other things. . After washing put in dryer or hang in sun to dry. If it still has odors, then use the vinegar. Spray the vinegar all over your room, open the drawers, closets, etc & spray liberally on your stuff to remove smoke odor. it will help a LOT. ((Blinds turn yellow from the sunlight & heat, so it's not ALL from the smoke).

Answer 4

Students have a lower expectation of privacy. The reason for this is because you are already considered under the control of the school because you are expected to be there during the determined hours and the responsibility of school faculty. And nowadays, SROs (School Resource Officers), which are often times cops doing a pay job, are allowed to search bags and lockers as part of their responsibilities at the school.

Answer 5

Not that I am aware of. I mean, it would not make much sense, considering that you're forced to go there in the first place. You have to have some rights... don't you?

Wow, after reading the responses of most people here, I'm positively flabbergasted! For private schools, fine. The only way they gain the right to search you is if your parents give it to them, at least there's some sort of fairness to that.

How on earth could it be legal to conduct a search in a PUBLIC school though? By law, every kid is forced there, so the parents could not object to signing their rights away, because by law that would be illegal. That's entrapment, it's absurd. Isn't anyone else as enraged over this as I am?

Answer 6

Prep schools, just like all other schools are private enterprise, dealing in a service. Funding may be both public [ common good] and private [ tuition].
In either case, they make the rules: not necessarily based on common sense or logic, but...they make the rules.
If you do not comply, you can be made to leave, just like a rude child in a store.

Stinks, yes?

Answer 7

Public schools actually have more power to search than police. I note you said "prep school"; does that mean Private School? The Private School has even more power to search. Your parents signed away your privacy rights when they enrolled you.

Answer 8

Look up the Supreme Court case of New Jersey v. T.L.O.
However, that applies to public schools, not sure about private ones. I'm fairly certain your parents signed something when they enrolled you that notified them there would be unannounced searches of students' possessions.

Answer 9

Yes, you are on the property of the school and they have a legal right to search, the police will assist if necessary.

Answer 10

Yes. Case law has allowed this in the interest of making schools a safe place for learning.

I'm not saying its right or wrong, but it can and will happen.