THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997             TAG: 9701140005
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   26 lines

SCHOOL-SEARCH SYSTEM IS UNFAIR

I am a member of the Maury High School class of 1996, and I am extremely glad to see action being taken against an unfair system. While I was at Maury, I took mostly advanced-placement and honors classes and was searched only once. I don't think this is coincidence.

Part of the problem at Maury is that the random searches are not so random. However, the main problem is the violation of rights. One of the more humorous aspects of this search policy is that Norfolk public schools try to sugarcoat the invasion by listing it as a ``right'' in the Rights and Responsibilities pamphlet that every student receives.

I think the suit that the student and the ACLU are bringing is not frivolous because it addresses an important revision in the search policy. It used to be that a student could refuse to be searched, and her parents would be called. For some reason, the School Board decided to cut parents out of this process.

Parent involvement is essential to a student's success, and hopefully this case will put the parents back where they belong - in the schools.

MEGAN-BRADY VICCELLIO

Norfolk, Jan. 5, 1997