Recent media reports that drug-sniffing dogs could be put into Hawai‘i’s public schools will certainly reassure and satisfy many parents and some students. Proposed amendments to Chapter 19 were to be considered in public hearings throughout the state beginning April
Recent media reports that drug-sniffing dogs could be put into Hawai‘i’s public schools will certainly reassure and satisfy many parents and some students. Proposed amendments to Chapter 19 were to be considered in public hearings throughout the state beginning April 6; On Kaua’i, the hearing will be held Monday at 3:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi.
Chapter 19 is the document that promises to provide Hawai‘i “students with optimal learning conditions” in a “safe, caring, nurturing … learning environment” and contains the disciplinary rules for Hawai‘i public school student conduct.
The proposed amendments, if adopted, will not only pave the way for drug sniffing-dogs, they will also expand the definition of fighting to include “physically supporting a fight by one’s presence and encouragement.” If a student watches a fight long enough to realize it is a fight in order to report it, will that student be accused and found guilty of Assault 3?
Another amendment adds “cyberbullying” as a form of harassment and another also defines it as a stand-alone offense – off campus as well as on. When did public school officials believe they had the authority to regulate and punish students for off-campus cyberspeech? According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i, “This proposal is fraught with serious and immediate constitutional problems.”
An amendment which will surely irritate students is one that permits student lockers to “be subject to opening and inspection (and external dog sniffs) by school officials at any time with or without cause.” The amendment adds that “Students should assume that their lockers are subject to opening and inspection …” and in the course of discussing other types of searches on campus, the amendment states that though these searches provide a reasonable expectation of privacy to students, they shall not “in any way be construed to create an expectation of privacy in student lockers.” What do students keep in their lockers that frighten school administrators so much that the condition of “reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing” is not enough to gain access?
Let’s look back to find out. According to McKinley High School principal Ron Okamura, “McKinley has on average about 15 to 20 incidents of ‘illicit drugs,’ which includes everything from cigarettes to marijuana.” According to Principal Okamura, “just one violation is too much.”
If McKinley High School has a student population of approximately 1500 students, as I was told by the woman who answered the phone in the administration office, where is the justice in denying 100 percent of McKinley’s students their Fourth Amendment rights because 1 percent of the student population has a pack of cigarettes or a joint in their lockers?
It is sad that there are always donors willing to fund punitive programs in schools and yet rarely is that money available for books, vocational training, drug rehab programs or parenting classes.
Parents, get involved to improve the quality of your child’s education and attend the hearing on proposed amendments to Chapter 19 on Monday at 3:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.
• Questions? A support group of adults in our Kaua‘i community have “stepped into the corner” for our teens, to answer questions and give support to youth and their families! Please e-mail questions and concerns facing our youth and families today to LaVerne Bishop, Program Director of Hale ‘Opio, at lbishop@haleopio.org
