Schools to get guidance on searches

Teacher Steve hose was stabbed in the neck by a student. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Education officials are working to clarify a "grey area" for school staff around their powers to search students suspected of carrying weapons and drugs.

The Ministry of Education is developing guidelines around search and seizure, according to information released to nzherald.co.nz under the Official Information Act.

The move comes after three incidents of knives being brought on to school grounds since March last year. Two of the incidents resulted in teachers being stabbed in the back and neck by students in class.

Secondary Principals Association president Patrick Walsh said schools would welcome the guidelines.

Mr Walsh said schools felt powerless to search students they suspected of carrying weapons or drugs.

He said despite schools having the right to search implied in the Education Act, there was nothing set down in black and white and staff feared they could face disciplinary action if they carried out searches.

"It is a complex legal area - there is no case law in New Zealand on search and seizure and there is no specific statute that gives authority to schools to conduct searches," Mr Walsh said.

He said he had written to the Education Ministry and Minister at least twice about the issue and the Ministry needed to examine it.

"I speak to principals who tell me that they are frequently confiscating weapons off school students," Mr Walsh said.

However, Avondale principal Brent Lewis said the stabbing at his school last year was a one-off and searching students was not the answer.

Tae Won Chung, 17, took a knife to school and stabbed his Avondale college teacher Dave Warren in front of his classmates.

Mr Lewis said guidelines would not help his school.

"You would have to search every student, everyday. The reality is the biggest defence against attacks is not going to be searches. It is about healthy environments," Mr Lewis said.

He said teachers would have to be psychics to know which kids are carrying what.

"The reality is, there is often a knee jerk reaction to events like this but if you read our Education Review Office report you would find our school to be a peaceful, happy and safe school," Mr Lewis said.

"Unless you want to go down the American route of bag searches and metal detectors - it is not realistic. It would be a shame if we lose track of our fundamental values and the culture of our schools," Mr Lewis said.

The Ministry of Education and Minister Anne Tolley have said that searching students was a "difficult area" for schools and Boards of Trustees.

According to documents released by the Ministry, its legal team are looking at developing guidelines for schools to search students.

A spokesman from the Ministry, Steve Jones, said there is no timeframe for the guidelines and they are at a "very early stage".

A document from the Ministry dated May 11 said there is a "grey area" in the powers of school staff to search and seize.

"Under the NZ Bill of Rights Act, everyone has the right to be free from unreasonable search or seizure. So the real issue is defining the limits of a reasonable search, not the power to make a search," the document said.

It goes on to say that there must be reasonable grounds in order for a search to take place and the search must be done in a "reasonable way".

"The areas of uncertainty with reasonable grounds to commence a search include what degree of suspicion is needed, how much evidence is required, should suspicion be individualised and can blanket approaches be justified?"

The document said schools should be able to develop their own frameworks and many would have already done so.

But Mr Walsh said that was not the case. He said teachers were worried that they could be charged with assault or reported to the Teachers Council if they searched students.

"We have an obligation to make sure that our schools are weapon free and drug free.

"The basic principle that I pointed out to the Minister is, if we don't have clarification from the Ministry around search and seizure then we can't give any assurance to parents and the public that our schools are drug free and weapons free," Mr Walsh said.

A Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) survey found that teacher abuse was increasing.

The preliminary findings of the survey carried out by 18,000 union members showed teachers were under increasing stress from the threat of assault.

Te Puke High School - May, 2010

A 13 year-old student is accused of stabbing his teacher four times with a knife in the back of the neck and shoulder in front of his classmates.

The student is alleged to have used a 10cm kitchen knife in the attack which saw Maths teacher Steve Hose, 53, taken to hospital.

Hamilton's Fairfield College May, 2010

A senior student took his shirt off and chased a pair of brothers who came into his school armed with a knife.

It started when a Year 9 student became involved in an altercation with another student as part of a row the pair had been carrying on for about a week and-a-half.

The boy ran home to get his 26-year-old brother. The pair came back in a car with a woman and walked on to the school grounds. The older brother was armed with a knife.

The man told police a larger group converged on the pair and, feeling threatened, he produced a knife to get them to back off. No one was injured.

Avondale College - March, 2009

Tae Won Chung, 17, took a knife to school and stabbed his teacher Dave Warren in front of his classmates.

The attack happened the day after Mr Warren made a comment about Chung returning to South Korea for compulsory military service.

Mr Warren woke Chung as he dozed in class and warned him that "you'll be dead" if he slept while the North Korean army attacked.

Chung was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Mr Warren told the court he would forever forget Chung "straddling" over him with a "bloody knife protruding and threatening me with the words 'Don't ever f*** with me'."

UK Schools can search a pupil they suspect may be carrying weapons without consent as a result of new legislation passed in 2007.

The search can involve clothes and bags. School staff can carry out the search themselves or call police.

Queensland, Australia School staff are able to search students if they have reasonable grounds to believe that a student is carrying a weapon. Students can also be asked to open lockers and turn out their pockets but they cannot be touched in a search.

If a weapon is found, staff are urged to call police.

Ontario, Canada School staff cannot search students for weapons. If staff believe a student is carrying a weapon, they should call police to conduct a search.

School boards are also encouraged to create a police and school protocol which sets out the rules and responsibilities of schools and police.