Florida District Gives Administrators With "Reasonable Suspicion" Right To Search Cell Phones

The St. Petersburg Times (5/5, Marrero) reports that the Hernando County, Florida, School Board on Tuesday "approved an updated version of the district's student code of conduct" that gives "administrators the explicit right to search" students' "cell phones and other electronic devices." The regulations specify that administrators must have "'reasonable suspicion' that a student has used the gadget to commit an offense such as cheating." While teachers are able to report incidents, they will not have authority to perform the searches. And, administrators will be trained on "what reasonable suspicion means and what ignites a reasonable suspicion," said board member John Sweeney.