This bill says nothing about strip searches. Actually, this bill really does nothing at all but give some election year Republicans an opportunity to cite some shocking statistics, and to brag about something they did to "make schools safer".
It simply says that certain federal funds will be withheld from schools if they don't have a clear policy in place regarding student searches, and it leaves the specifics of that policy in the hands of the schools themselves. Schools already have these policies.
Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)
HR 5295 EH
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5295
AN ACT
To protect students and teachers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics reported in the 2005 Indicators of School Crime and Safety that in 2003 seventeen percent of students in grades 9-12 reported they carried a weapon. Six percent reported having carried a weapon on school grounds.
(2) The same survey reported that 29 percent of all students in grades 9-12 reported that someone offered, sold, or gave them an illegal drug on school property within the last 12 months.
(3) The United States Constitution's Fourth Amendment guarantees `the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures'.
(4) That while the Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth Amendment's application to students in public schools in New Jersey vs. TLO (1985), the Court held that searches of students by school officials do not require warrants issued by judges showing probable cause. The Court will ordinarily hold that such a search is permissible if--
(A) there are reasonable grounds for suspecting the search will reveal evidence that the student violated the law or school rules; and
(B) the measures used to conduct the search are reasonably related to the search's objectives, without being excessively intrusive in light of the student's age, sex, and nature of the offense.
(5) The Supreme Court held in Board of Education of Independent Sch. Dist. 92 of Pottawatomie County vs. Earls (2002) that random drug testing of students who were participating in extracurricular activities was reasonable and did not violate the Fourth Amendment. The Court stated that such search policies effectively serve the School Districts interest in protecting its students' health and safety.
SEC. 3. SEARCHES BASED ON REASONABLE SUSPICION.
(a) In General- Each local educational agency shall have in effect throughout the jurisdiction of the agency policies that ensure that a search described in subsection (b) is deemed reasonable and permissible.
(b) Searches Covered- A search referred to in subsection (a) is a search by a full-time teacher or school official, acting on any reasonable suspicion based on professional experience and judgment, of any minor student on the grounds of any public school, if the search is conducted to ensure that classrooms, school buildings, school property and students remain free from the threat of all weapons, dangerous materials, or illegal narcotics. The measures used to conduct any search must be reasonably related to the search's objectives, without being excessively intrusive in light of the student's age, sex, and the nature of the offense.
SEC. 4. ENCOURAGEMENT TO PROTECT STUDENTS AND TEACHERS.
(a) In General- A local educational agency that fails to comply with section 3 shall not, during the period of noncompliance, receive any Safe and Drug Free School funds after fiscal year 2008.
(b) Definition- In this section, the term `Safe and Drug Free School funds' includes any funds under Part A of Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
Passed the House of Representatives September 19, 2006.
Attest:
Clerk.
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5295
AN ACT
To protect students and teachers.
