Can they search our backpacks? Can they pat us down? The answer unfortunately is yes, but they must have a reasonable suspicion to do so.

The reinstatement of random classroom searches has brought up many concerns as students are questioning what is the cause of such dramatic efforts by the school administration. 

The problem is the entire student body is being impacted by the people who are choosing to abuse school rules like using vapes in the bathrooms. 

We should not be deprived of learning time because of the admins inability to catch the small demographic of students who bring drugs onto campus.

The week of February 26 our teachers, parents and students received an email that the dress code here at Millikan will be more enforced. In the email sent to teachers however it also stated the random classroom searches would be re-enforced. But why are they enforcing it now and not at the beginning of the school year? Why wasn’t it also included in the email to students and parents?

These random searches are just now being brought to our attention but they have actually been happening for years according to COMPASS Assistant Principal Mr. Ashley. The system for these searches is as follows: Admin plans the searches weeks or even months in advance. They select what type of search they will be doing (entire classroom search or teachers randomly select two students to be fully searched) but whoever is conducting the search doesn’t know where the search will be occurring. 

Their system for selecting what classroom gets searched is…picking a number out of a plastic bag. The same bag you can find in your kitchen drawer. 

After an interview with COMPASS Assistant Principal Mr. Ashley, he told us, “It should always be happening, we just are making it more known and visible.” Ashley also says, “They’ve been occurring but we haven’t been advertising [the searches] as much. The purpose of these searches is to find nothing,” says Ashley. 

The week of January 29, our Principal, Mr. Vega sent an email telling Millikan students that being tardy is a disruption to the classroom, but is it okay to stop class and search everyone? The contradiction of what this email suggests is extreme considering admin is disrupting classroom time without any consequences.  

“I haven’t personally searched but I think that it keeps students on their toes. However it does interfere with classroom time and I feel if they want to add new enforcement they should keep up with what is already said to be instituted, for example, the dress code. If they can’t keep up with one rule, how are we going to keep up with this one?” says a teacher here at Millikan. They wished to stay anonymous due to concerns of backlash from administrators. “It has potential but it needs to be executed correctly if they want students to obey.” 

Why can’t searches occur only in the place of where problems are coming from? While     the staff is doing searches in the bathrooms already, a better solution is to search bathrooms everyday during both class time and breaks instead of disturbing the innocent students who are actually being productive. If you walk into the 300 bathroom during any period or break you will find students abusing drugs and using contraband.  If students know that there is a high chance that they will be caught when they go to the bathroom, we doubt that they will continue what they shouldn’t be doing. 

Millikan staff’s goal is a clean and contraband free school and unfortunately some Millikan students abuse drugs and use vape pens here on campus. The searches being enforced isn’t the problem, it is the depiction it causes for the students and teachers and could definitely be done in a less chaotic way to keep our school safe.