By Aimee Brandon and Gavin Swanson Posted April 27, 2016
When students at Lowry say Code Yellow, they are typically referring to drug searches.
According to Humboldt County School District Superintendent Dave Jensen, these drug searches come about mainly if they have a reason to believe that there are drugs on campus.
The school calls a Code Yellow and the teachers lock their doors and continue teaching. No one is allowed to leave the room until the code is over. At this time police officers come in with canine units and do their search. They mostly search the hallways, but according to Chuk Jones if they have reasonable suspicion they can take the dogs into classrooms. When this happens the students and teachers in the room go into a different classroom. If a dog finds drugs they then go get the student to whom the locker or bag belongs.
One of the most important Supreme Court cases when it comes to searches on school grounds is New Jersey v. T.L.O. The United States Supreme Court ruled that students should have the expectation of privacy at school, but the school is allowed to search students if they hold “reasonable suspicion”. Meaning if the teacher believes that a student has broken a school rule, has broken the law, or is currently breaking the law, they may search the student’s belongings.
“I cannot search a student without probable cause. I am law enforcement so I am like any other cop on the street. I can’t just walk up to somebody and search them. That goes for kids in school; just because I work for the school district doesn’t mean I can do that. The people that can are the administration here at the school, if they have reasonable suspicion, which is different from probable cause,” explained Jones. “So if someone comes to them and tells them they saw a student pull a pill out and take it or give it to somebody else, or they saw marijuana in a backpack, the principals can go up and do that, I cannot because for me to do it, I have to see it myself. If someone sees it and reports it— a teacher, a student, an aid, anybody or if they see it on their own, that is suspicion. That applies to anything that has to do with the school— so if you are on a bus, any school event at any school, any school function,” continued Jones.
Another important Supreme Court case is Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton. In this case, the Justices stated that students are expected to waive some rights when they’re on school grounds. “Students who voluntarily participate in school athletics have reason to expect intrusions upon normal rights and privileges, including privacy”. The Justices considered the drug tests to be a minimal intrusion of the student’s privacy and that schools could require mandatory drug tests for a group of students if they wish. HCSD at this time cannot require mass drug tests.
Since search and seizure at Lowry mostly come to mind with drugs involved, what are the school’s policies? Most students know what is being talked about when they hear “the smoker’s corner”. For those who don’t, it is an area on school property where students smoke. There is confusion in this whole area so let’s break it down: according to the law you cannot purchase nicotine products which includes cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and vapes if you are under the age of 18; nowhere does the law state you cannot smoke them. Schools have the right to restrict smoking on campus, but our school district has allowed it in one designated area.
“The school has a policy, just as anywhere else, that there is no smoking here on campus. So as a gesture, the administration here has allowed students to have an area to smoke, they’ve allowed it, they don’t have to do that. Where the kids are standing is still considered our campus, so we are allowing them to smoke on the campus in a designated area,” said Jones.
Freedom of Speech
One of the most important cases surrounding free speech on school campuses is Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.
In this case, the Justices issued the famous words that students and teachers do not, “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate”.
In Frederick v. Morse, the Court said that students do not have the right to undermine a school’s “anti-drug” principles.
Overall yes, as Americans we have freedom of speech, but as we practice our rights, we have to consider others.
“You have freedom of speech, but when you’re in a setting of a school you have to follow rules and regulations. Outside of school, you have total freedom of speech as long as you’re not threatening anyone or interfering with what they’re doing. If you interfere with their way of life then that is depriving somebody of their freedoms,” said Jones.

One large problem at Lowry concerning freedom of speech involves social media. This year started out with a lecture from every teacher about a new anti-bullying law. Phones were said to no longer be allowed in the classroom. The reasoning behind this is that they often distract from the learning environment. HCSD is hoping to bring electronic devices into the learning environment for educational purposes in the future.
But back to the anti-bullying, HCSD does not monitor the social media of students, and will only investigate if a parent or student reports a threat against another student. If a social media post is found to be “emotionally disturbing, problematic, or a threat to a student” (Jensen), then HCSD will look into it. Whether the incident took place on or off campus does not matter.
Jensen commented, “The issue is when they begin to identify targets, harass, threaten, or create a situation where somebody feels uncomfortable.”
According to Jensen, if a post is identified under one of these criteria, it is no longer considered freedom of speech. If a target of criticism is identified in the social media post, then the school district will get involved.
Suspension and Expulsion
We have finally made it to the consequences within the school. Jensen was able to shed some light on the differences between suspensions and expulsions. “There’s some mandatory, through Nevada Revised Statute, longer-term suspensions: drug possession, weapons violations; then you start to get into the distinction between a suspension and an expulsion. With an expulsion it’s an absolute termination of services, Humboldt County School District no longer provides any type of educational support,” said Jensen.
One statute is habitual discipline, it is concerned with students who are continually being a disruption. If they are a frequent disciplinary problem in the school. “[The suspension] becomes a cited administration decision based upon the policies here at Lowry High School. So Mr. Parks, Mr. Connors, and Mr. Christean would make that determination,” said Jensen.
The severity of suspension is classified by the number of days and in-house versus out-of-school.
Jensen described in-house suspension, “they’re here at Lowry High School receiving services from a staff member, so they got the support. They’re working on their assignments and we try to keep them up, so they’re here on campus,” said Jensen.
Expulsion is a whole different thing, if you are expelled from HCSD you cannot simply enroll in another school district, it applies across the state and across state borders. The primary cause is dealing with weapons.
Outside of School
Most of the information pertaining to school and school events has been covered, so let’s move on to our rights off campus. Laws on alcohol are pretty straightforward, if you are not 21 or older you cannot drink alcohol. Some underage high schoolers commonly consume alcohol at house parties typically hosted without the knowledge of their parents by people underage.
Jones gave us a look into what happens when police officers arrive at one of these parties, “we go inside, now let’s say there were some kids who were intoxicated and there were some kids who were not. In that case, if you are intoxicated and you are under the age of 21 that is an automatic citation. You are getting a citation for being under the influence when you’re not 21. The kids that also blew into the PBT (portmanteau of breath or breathalyzer test) that were zeros that had no alcohol on them were released to the parents. In the real world— outside school, that’s how it works. You can be at a party and if you are not doing anything wrong you aren’t doing anything wrong. We have to prove that you are doing something wrong”. Jones continued, “You have to be released to your parents because you are under 18 and you are found in an area where something could have happened. It is just the Winnemucca Police Department’s policy that if we find you with people that are intoxicated Maybe on drugs, we don’t know if you drove there, we don’t know anything else so we just call your parents. I have had it where parents show up and say ‘You blow zeros you’re clean, didn’t do anything wrong, you’re not in trouble with the law’, your parents would show up, escort you off the property, and if they want to give you the keys to your car to get in your car that’s up to them and I’m just releasing you to them because you are a minor to your parents.”
Be warned there is a case in which the consequences do not only come from your parents, that is if you are under a contract, such as the NIAA contract. According to the contract signed by all Lowry athletes, you cannot be in a place where drugs or alcohol are being illegally consumed.
Moving into driving under the influence, it is pretty much the same.
“For a normal adult that is 21 or older, if you’re driving and you’re .08 which is the legal limit, as an adult you can be up to that point if you’re not impaired so even if you’re under that you can still be arrested for a DUI, if you’re impaired. For someone under 21 you can’t have any alcohol in your system because you’re not 21,” shared Jones.
Consequences for drugs or drug paraphernalia can be severe.
“If they are found with drugs or drug paraphernalia they are taken to jail. If they are under 18 they are taken to the juvenile detention center, where they are booked in and usually, if they are not under the influence at that time, they are released to parents and then they will have a court date on their charges. If they are 18 or older they are taken to Humboldt County Detention Center, not the juvenile detention center, and the same process applies there, except they are not drug tested if they are 18 or older,” said Jones.
Due process
So where do our rights come into this? Right here. Due process is the legal requirement that the state must respect all legal rights that are owed to a person.
“When you’re talking about a long-term suspension or expulsion, […] they are also afforded due process rights, and that goes through an impartial hearing officer. At the District’s expense, we hire an impartial hearing officer and then the school district would present our evidence and then the parents and the students could present their evidence and then the impartial hearing officer makes a determination of appropriateness and could potentially overturn the district’s position or support the district’s position,” said Jensen.