This text of Iowa § 808A.2 (Searches of students, protected student areas, lockers, desks, and other facilities or spaces) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
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1.The school board of each public school and the authorities in charge of each nonpublic
school shall establish and may search a student or protected student area pursuant to a
student search rule. The student search rule shall be published in each public school’s and
each nonpublic school’s student handbook. A school official may search individual students
and individual protected student areas if both of the following apply:
a.The official has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will produce
evidence that a student has violated or is violating either the law or a school rule or
regulation.
b.The search is conducted in a manner which is reasonably related to the objectives of
the search and which is not excessively intrusive in light of the age and gender of th
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1. The school board of each public school and the authorities in charge of each nonpublic
school shall establish and may search a student or protected student area pursuant to a
student search rule. The student search rule shall be published in each public school’s and
each nonpublic school’s student handbook. A school official may search individual students
and individual protected student areas if both of the following apply:
a. The official has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will produce
evidence that a student has violated or is violating either the law or a school rule or
regulation.
b. The search is conducted in a manner which is reasonably related to the objectives of
the search and which is not excessively intrusive in light of the age and gender of the student
and the nature of the infraction.
2. School officials may conduct periodic inspections of all, or a randomly selected number
of, school lockers, desks, and other facilities or spaces owned by the school and provided as a
courtesytoastudent. Thefurnishingofaschoollocker, desk, orotherfacilityorspaceowned
bytheschoolandprovidedasacourtesytoastudentshallnotcreateaprotectedstudentarea,
and shall not give rise to an expectation of privacy on a student’s part with respect to that
§808A.2, STUDENT SEARCHES 2
locker, desk, facility, or space. Allowing students to use a separate lock on a locker, desk, or
other facility or space owned by the school and provided to the student shall also not give
rise to an expectation of privacy on a student’s part with respect to that locker, desk, facility,
or space. However, each year when school begins, the school district shall provide written
notice to all students and the students’ parents, guardians, or legal custodians, that school
officials may conduct periodic inspections of school lockers, desks, and other facilities or
spaces owned by the school and provided as a courtesy to a student without prior notice.
An inspection under this subsection shall either occur in the presence of the students whose
lockers are being inspected or the inspection shall be conducted in the presence of at least
one other person.
3. Under no circumstances may a search be made which is unreasonable in light of the
following:
a. The age of the student.
b. The nonseriousness of the violation.
c. The sex of the student.
d. The nature of the suspected violation.
4. A school official shall not conduct a search which involves:
a. A strip search.
b. A body cavity search.
c. The use of a drug sniffing animal to search a student’s body.
d. The search of a student by a school official not of the same sex as the student.
5. If a student is not or will not be present at the time a search of a protected student area
is conducted pursuant to subsection 1, the student shall be informed of the search either prior
to or as soon as is reasonably practicable after the search is conducted.