Chris Coughlin reports:
Parents sued the Springfield Public Schools, saying the repeated “mass lockdowns of public schools,” during which sheriff’s officers search virtually everything – backpacks, lockers, and students’ bodies, if the police dogs “alert” on them – are unconstitutional. When the parents complained, they say the school board said it was their “policy” to conduct five such lockdowns a year, though there was no probable cause for them.
[…]
When the Burlisons complained about the lockdown and warrantless searches, a publicist for the school district “publicly announced that the ‘lockdown’ and searches were a ‘standard drill’ and not prompted by any incident that had occurred at Central High School. The spokesman also announced that it was the intent and policy of defendants SPS to conduct similar ‘lockdowns at all SPS high schools.”
Read more on Courthouse News, where you can also read the complaint.