A new policy has been approved by the Volusia County School Board enabling district personnel to conduct random searches of anyone present without needing cause to do so. Those subjected to searches don't have to necessarily be students; the policy can be used on anyone present on a Volusia County public school campus starting this school year.
The policy passed with only one School Board member voting against it - District 2 member Anita Burnette. Even then, Burnette said she only opposed the specific wording of the policy and that she wasn't opposed to what the measure was trying to accomplish.
Volusia Schools' Student Code of Conduct and Discipline has already been amended to reflect the change. "All individuals entering or present on Volusia County School sites or events are on notice that randomized screenings may be conducted without cause by the site administrator utilizing minimally intrusive electronic devices," the policy says.
Prohibited items at school in Volusia County include controlled or illegal substances including drugs, alcohol, vapes, lighters, and matches, and weapons such as knives, chains, slingshots, tear gas, and razor blades. Also included in the Code of Conduct is a policy that students' backpacks must be 15 inches by 21 inches or smaller, and that students may not bring alternatives such as duffel bags or other large bags.
The measure comes as pressure grows across the country to bolster safety measures in schools, against a backdrop of continuing shootings in classrooms in various states. Volusia County has already adopted the 'guardian program', which places armed personnel on-campus to try and deter would-be shooters.
A similar proposal was rejected by the Volusia County School Board in 2022 amid concerns it may run afoul of subjects' constitutional rights. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution holds that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searches, and the persons or things being seized."
According to the Cornell Law School, 'unreasonable search and seizure', as prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, includes when a search is executed "without probable cause to believe that [a] certain person, specified place or automobile has criminal evidence".
The Florida School Search Reference Guide, prepared by the Florida Attorney General's Office on the legality of searches in Florida schools, holds a loose interpretation of the Fourth Amendment's restrictions on school searches. "Rather than requiring probable cause," it says, "the legality of a search of a student depends simply on the reasonableness, under all circumstances, of the search."
Volusia County's new policy makes no mention of what constitutes 'reasonableness' for their searches and screenings, and does not appear to attempt to qualify its own legality in accordance with state and federal law. Whether this may open the district to potential litigation will likely depend on the ambition of civil rights organizations, and the chance of a search which is accused of being dubiously justified.
Gun violence overtook car accidents as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in America in 2021, with data showing that the amount of victims injured and killed in school shootings has risen substantially in recent years. 71 people were killed in school shootings in 2022 along with 206 injuries, compared to 11 deaths and 8 injuries in 2000. Suicides were not included in this data.
Florida also became one of the national forefronts for the conversation around school shootings in 2018, when a gunman killed 17 and injured another 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The shooter, a 19-year-old former student, used a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle and was later issued 34 consecutive life sentences after being convicted.
The CDC shows Florida as having the 24th highest rate of gun homicide in the nation as of 2021 (the most recent year with complete data), at a rate of 5.3 deaths per 100,000 people. Guns account for the vast majority of homicides in Florida. For school shootings in particular, Florida ranked 18th in the nation for most wounded or killed per million residents between 2018 and 2023.
