With the untimely death of a University of Louisville cheerleader due to an accidental drug overdose in the summer of 2014, the athletic department representatives took steps to prevent future incidents by adding cheerleaders to the randomized drug testing protocols conducted at the university for the student-athletes involved in National…

Non-individualized (so-called "random") drug testing in public schools presents issues of Constitutional law on both the federal and state levels, particularly with regard to citizens' freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures." The trend toward increasing acceptance of such testing by the courts (and particularly the U.S. Supreme Court)…

In an Oklahoma case, absence of a documented drug problem among students in nonathletic extracurricular activities led the10th Circuit Court to strike down the district's policy as unreasonable and unconstitutional. Imposing random, suspicionless drug-testing policies for all students attending school might violate the Fourth Amendment. (MLH)

In its "stare decisis" ruling upholding a Pennsylvania school district's random drug-testing policy, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals nonetheless declared its disagreement with a similar panel's 1998 decision upholding another district's policy of random, suspicionless drug, alcohol, and tobacco testing. (MLH)

The Vernonia (Oregon) School District passed a mandatory random drug testing policy for student athletes that was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. A survey of randomly selected superintendents in five geographic regions disclosed that a majority of respondents who knew about the case were leaning toward not adopting a similar policy. (28…

By upholding a student's refusal to provide a urine sample, the Seventh Circuit Court correctly avoided further erosion of the Fourth Amendment's privacy principle. In "New Jersey v T.L.O." (1995), the U.S. Supreme Court shrunk the probable-cause standard to reasonable suspicion in the special context of public schools, retaining the…

In recent years, public school students have been searched with metal detectors and occasionally sniffed by dogs or strip searched. Their lockers and bookbags have been searched, and their urine has been tested for drugs--all in the name of school safety. This article explores the legal ramifications of such searches and calls for a critical…

Concerns over students' and staff members' safety in public schools continue to mount-- manifested in zero-tolerance policies, stringent disciplinary practices, and efforts to implement drug-screening programs. Although "reasonable suspicion" for searches and drug testing is the watchword, courts cannot agree on definitions. Legalities…

In June 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Vernonia (Oregon) School District's right to conduct random drug tests of its student athletes. The court balanced a seventh grader's privacy interest with the state's interest in curbing drug abuse among student athletes. Before adopting drug-testing policies, school boards should assess the local…

Issues relevant to the formation and implementation of clearly defined and enforceable discipline policies to maintain a secure school environment are discussed in this paper. One area of tension exists between the development of stricter discipline policies for student standards of conduct and students' constitutional rights. Conclusions are that…

School buildings ideally would have few exterior access points, no isolated hallways, and sunlit classrooms. A safety checklist recommends locating offices near main doors, monitoring hallway traffic, enhancing communications, updating crisis-management plans, teaching coping skills, standardizing dismissal policies, and ensuring legal compliance…