Springfield couple opposes school drug searches

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A drug search at a Springfield high school that included locking down the school and using drug-sniffing dogs violated the constitutional rights of students and teachers, according to a city councilman.

Councilman Doug Burlison and his wife, Mellony, have asked the American Civil Liberties Union for help in stopping the random drug searches. They contend the searches should be conducted only after specific incidents and not because of general suspicions.

If information about the search at Central High School is correct "the District's policy of conducting such searches constitute outrageous violations of the Fourth Amendment rights of students and teachers who have been subjected to these searches," ACLU attorney Doug Bonney wrote Thursday to superintendent Norm Ridder.

The ACLU will consider filing a lawsuit if the district doesn't change its drug search policies, Bonney said.

Ridder said Thursday he had not read the ACLU letter. He said he had not talked to any parents who were upset about the searches. The school district's attorney, Ransom Ellis, did not immediately return a call Friday for comment.

Bonney said in his letter that Central High School was locked down on April 22 while police officers and drug dogs went into classrooms. Students and teachers were told to leave the room without their belongings, which were then searched.

School spokeswoman Teresa Bledsoe said the search was not prompted by a specific incident.

"My understanding is by the end of the year we will have conducted these drug dog drills at all five high schools," said Bledsoe.

The Burlisons' son, freshman Connor Mizer, told The Springfield News-Leader that if students passed a drug dog on their way to their next class, and the dog signaled an alert, the student's clothing was searched and the student was told to go outside.

Doug Burlison said he and his wife wanted the ACLU to clarify whether the searches were legal.

"We are both libertarians and cognizant of what is in the Constitution," he said.

The district told the News-Leader that Central High had eight drug incidents between Oct. 30, 2009, and March 12, 2010.