Most legal authorities state that the validity of locker searches is dependent on the students’ reasonable expectations of privacy, which can be affected by school policies designating the lockers as student or school property, and student notification that the school will conduct periodic searches for contraband or will retain a master key to the locker for spot checks (Student Searches and the Law, 1995). The theory posits that unless school districts have written and distributed a locker policy to students, students may have a high expectation of privacy and school authorities may have to meet higher constitutional standards to conduct a locker search.
The reality is that the courts have rarely found a school locker search they didn’t like, as their application of T.L.O.’s “reasonable in light of all the circumstances” test has allowed state courts to override whatever expectation of privacy other citizens may have in similar circumstances (S.C. v. State, 1991). There is utter certainty that state law, school district regulations, or written school policies that require schools to maintain custodianship over lockers and to inform students of this policy in writing will override any student privacy concerns that could theoretically be asserted to disallow a search.
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