ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Two girls who were strip-searched for stolen money have sued the Virginia Beach School Board, the former school superintendent and the assistant principal who ordered the 1992 search.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court accused Flora Haynie, former assistant principal of Great Neck Junior High, of violating the students' constitutional rights to due process and protection from unreasonable searches.
Sidney Faucette, then superintendent of Virginia Beach schools, condemned the searches soon after they occurred, and the School Board later fired Haynie. But the lawsuit alleges that Faucette and the School Board left Haynie in her position of power despite a pattern of complaints against her.
The girls and their parents are seeking $1.6 million in compensatory damages against all defendants, plus $1 million in punitive damages against Haynie.
Haynie could not be reached for comment, and school officials declined to comment because they hadn't seen the suit, which was filed Monday. Faucette left Virginia Beach last year to head schools in Gwinnett County, Ga.
The incident involved four 13-year-old girls, all in the seventh grade, who were accused of stealing $92 from another student's purse. The searches failed to find any of the money.
Only two of the girls sued.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB