Searching students and confiscation
These guidelines are provided to assist the boards of trustees (or manager of a private school ) and principals to develop an appropriate and practical approach to searching students and also to confiscation of student property. They are designed to provide some understanding of the responsibilities and issues that boards of trustees and principals need to consider when searching students and confiscating their property. The guidelines also set out a practical model of good practices within the broader school context.
Note: These guidelines are not a legal code and are not a substitute for specific legal advice. They are instead designed to provide general guidance to schools in their management of incidents that may give rise to possible search or confiscation.
Every school is required to provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students. Safety at school is a basic expectation for students and staff, as well as being a prerequisite for student success and academic achievement.
New Zealand schools are usually safe places. At any time only a very small number of students may carry an item that poses a risk to their own or others’ safety. Schools have a range of options in developing policies to address that risk:
- schools can specify unsafe items as prohibited;
- where school staff see students in possession of prohibited items, such items can be confiscated; and
- schools can invoke disciplinary measures and more generally involve parents or guardians or in case of significant risk or suspected criminal activity, the Police.
Where school staff believe that a student has a dangerous item concealed in clothing, bags or otherwise, the most straightforward approach is for staff to question the student. Staff may ask a student to hand over any item and, in most cases, a student questioned by staff will admit to possessing such an item and will hand it over when asked. These guidelines set out good practice for schools and school staff when that does not occur and it is necessary to search the student or their property.
Searching students and confiscating their property in the interest of safety can be a challenge for boards of trustees, principals and school staff. Searches are an intrusion into students’ privacy and can also amount to an additional source of difficulty in already tense situations. As such, the decision to search should not be made without good reasons and should follow fair, clear and safe procedures. Boards of trustees and principals need to make themselves well informed about the issues to be considered when developing policies and procedures in relation to search and confiscation.
Searches of students are only one of the ways that schools can respond to issues which may cause students or staff harm. School staff are never compelled to undertake a search in any particular circumstances and, where there is a serious risk to safety, retain the option of calling the Police to take appropriate steps and the Police may decide to conduct a search.
Relationship to other resources
These guidelines complement and should be used alongside the measures described in the Guidelines for principals/boards of trustees on stand- downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions which are also relevant to providing a safe school environment.
Outline of these guidelines
The guidelines consist of four sections:
Section one covers introduction and outlines roles and responsibilities of school boards of trustees and principals, and it includes legal obligations.
Section two explains general guidance on searching students.
Section three explains recommended good practice for searching students and confiscation.
Section four contains further advice and links to related resources and provides examples of scenarios that may arise in a school setting.