Subcommittee recommends adding coach/designee authority and parent notification to student-search policy

The Conewago Valley School District Board policy subcommittee on April 2 discussed revisions to Policy 02/26, “Searches,” and voted to send two recommended changes to legal review before returning the policy to the full board.

The subcommittee recommended adding language to allow the administration to designate trained activity advisors or coaches to act under the direction of administration for searches in district-related activities or events when an administrator is not physically present, and to add a requirement that an attempt be made to contact a student’s parent or guardian prior to any search involving removal of undergarments or examination beneath undergarments, with solicitor consultation required first.

The changes were presented by district staff and discussed at length by board members and administrators. Dr. Perry, the superintendent, described current practice and training: "This policy was originally approved 08/13/2018 ... administration is recommending that we add language after the word administration, the board authorizes the administration or designee ... such as activity advisors, coaches at a district activity or event where an administrator is not physically present under the direction of administration." Perry said the intent is that a coach would not act unilaterally: "a coach could not unilaterally discipline a child, but they would be required to speak with administration, and the administration would approve an activity if necessary."

Several board members pressed for clarity and stronger safeguards. One board member summarized the concern: asking students to remove clothing is traumatic and carries legal and safety risks. That member said: "Asking girls to strip, to search for a vape in their bra, like, that's just unacceptable." Another board member recommended keeping the option for extremely rare, imminent-danger situations where law enforcement cannot arrive quickly: "If we needed to, for whatever reason, we couldn't have the police here right away, and there is a safety issue ... we need that language if we're in an extreme situation." Dr. Perry and other administrators emphasized existing constraints: administrators do not conduct broad, fishing searches and do not leave a single administrator alone with a student.

Administrators also confirmed that searches involving the removal of undergarments currently require consultation with the district solicitor; the subcommittee recommended adding an explicit parent/guardian-notification step as an additional safeguard. Dr. Perry explained current practice around parent contact: "We always will contact the parent when it's practicable. So once we have information to share with the parent of what we know, that's when we would call them." The recommended policy language discussed at the meeting was: "Searches involving the removal of undergarments or examination beneath undergarments will be conducted only after consultation with the district solicitor. An attempt to reach a parent or guardian prior to the search will be made, when practicable."

Members also asked about roles for school resource officers and evidence collection. Perry said SROs are in a supportive role and do not conduct searches as part of school administration practice, and that evidence collection in criminal matters raises police-procedure issues: "If it’s something of substance ... that could be problematic in a court case. So even then, it should probably be an authority who has the evidence collection power." The committee discussed the policy’s "two criteria" standard — (1) justification for the search and (2) the reasonable scope of the search — and the higher bar set for clothing/undergarment searches.

After extended discussion, the subcommittee chair put forward the recommendation to incorporate (1) the designee language for activity advisors and coaches and (2) the parent-contact language for undergarment searches, and to send the revised language to legal review before coming back to the full board. The subcommittee voted in favor of that recommendation and the legal-review step.

The subcommittee’s discussion will inform the administrative regulation and the annual training the district provides to building administrators and activity advisors.

Ending: The recommendation was sent to legal review and will return to the full board for final action. The subcommittee then moved on to review policies in the 300 series.