End-of-year parties, awards assemblies, and senior reward days are just some of the many fun opportunities given to students in May and June. But during this time, rules are likely to be broken, and student safety can be jeopardized. When investigating misbehavior, teachers and administrators must be aware that students have a constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches while at school.

School employees do not need a warrant—or even probable cause—to search a student for contraband. To conduct a constitutionally sound search, the school official must have a reasonable suspicion that a school rule has been violated, and that searching the student will uncover evidence of that violation. Courts have explained this requirement as a two-pronged standard.

The first prong requires that a search must be justified at its beginning—that is, there must have been a reasonable reason to search the student before the search began. The employee must have more than a hunch that a rule was broken—he or she must be able to articulate a reasonable reason for conducting the search in the first place.

The second prong requires that a search must be reasonable in scope. In other words, the search must be reasonably calculated to turn up the evidence the searching employee is looking for, and the search must not be overly intrusive in light of the age of the student and nature of the alleged violation. For example, a search for stolen jewelry would be reasonable in scope if the searching administrator told the student to turn out his pockets, but would not be reasonable in scope if the administrator asked the student to remove his shirt and jeans.

This scope requirement has become even more important in the digital age. Often, evidence of wrongdoing can be found on a student’s personal cell phone or computer. But these devices can also hold intimate personal information about students unrelated to school. The same scope rule that applies to the jewelry example above also applies to digital devices. While it might be reasonable to look at certain apps or information on a student’s device, it is rarely reasonable to investigate all of the information stored within.

Courts are not united as to whether school resource officers are more like police officers, or more like school officials. Thus, it is not clear what standard applies when SROs search students. While involving the SRO could subject the search to a heightened level of scrutiny, school employees should certainly involve the SRO if his or her experience is required to protect student safety or deal with a difficult situation.

Finally, remember that a student can consent to a search. While it is impermissible to coerce a student into agreeing to a search, a school employee can ask politely. If the student gives permission, the search will be constitutionally sound, even if it falls shy of meeting the two-pronged test above.

If you have questions regarding student searches, consult your legal counsel.