Poplar Bluff school officials deny wrongdoing in search

Daily American Republic

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. --A group of Poplar Bluff Junior High girls were searched after $56 came up missing from a teacher's desk Monday, and how those searches were conducted is becoming a point of contention between several parents and school officials.

The money is still missing, but the controversy is just beginning.

Parents claim their daughters' rights were violated when they were made to strip down to their underwear to prove their innocence. Superintendent Randy Winston says no one was asked to remove their clothes and the incident is being blown out of proportion.

One of the girls who was searched, who did not wish to give her name, said it all started when a student gave the money to a physical education teacher for safekeeping during fifth-period gym class. When the teacher discovered the money was missing, the girls who had been in the office were told to line up against the lockers.

A school security guard, assistant principal and two physical education teachers were also present, she said.

Further searches

The first girl searched was made to turn her pockets inside out, remove her shoes, and empty her bag, the girl said. At that point, the decision was made to take the remaining girls to the nurse's office for further searches.

The girl said the nurse told her to take off her jacket and shirt, then lifted the back strap of her bra to look for money.

"Then she pulled the front of my bra out ... I had to pull my pants down to my knees and she pretty much did the same thing with my underwear ... The nurse said she was sorry I had to go through this," the girl said.

Winston said the girls' accusations were exaggerations of what really happened.

"They were not strip-searched," Winston said. "They were searched by a female nurse. They were patted down. Their pockets were emptied. They held out exterior articles of clothing to shake out ... so if there was something stuck in the clothing, it would fall out. Never were they asked to remove their clothes."

Met with officials

Several parents met with school officials Tuesday, then met with an attorney.

One mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said the parents intend to pursue the matter as a group. She refused comment on any legal action they were considering.

Winston said he has heard different versions of how the girls reacted to the searches, including that some of the girls were joking about the situation.

"From the information I have so far -- this thing is being blown way out of proportion," Winston said. "It was in the privacy of a school nurse. It was not in front of other students. No student was embarrassed."

The girl searched denied joking about the incident.

The school's policy regarding searches are outlined in both the student handbook and school board policy. It says that students aren't required to undress, but they may be asked to empty pockets or remove jackets, coats, shoes and other articles of exterior clothing for examination under reasonable circumstances.

Winston said that policy was followed.

"We had a professional registered nurse and a student," he said. "To me, that's as private and unintrusive as you can get."

Another mother of a girl who was searched said her daughter will not be returning to Poplar Bluff Junior High.

"I'm not sending her back to that school," the mother said. "I've already contacted Jefferson City to get homeschooling paperwork sent. It's been devasting."

That mother said her daughter has been unable to sleep in her own bed and is experiencing nightmares because of the incident.

"I tried to call back up there and get some clarification on why they did this without notifying a parent," the mother said. "I told him (Ivie) I didnít understand how you can strip search a 13-year-old when at that age, they don't even get searched like that by a doctor."

The girl searched may no longer be a suspect in the money theft --but the ordeal is far from over.

"Probably everybody in school knows I was one of the girls who got strip searched," she said. "Some guys were making wisecracks at lunch. Probably half the school knows who we are ... I just don't want to get anybody in trouble."