DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997                TAG: 9703040277

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   49 lines

4 STUDENTS END BID TO IMMEDIATELY HALT SEARCHES IMMEDIATELY THEIR CHALLENGE REMAINS, BUT REQUEST FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION IS WITHDRAWN

Four students who are challenging the public school system's random-search policy have withdrawn their request that a judge suspend the searches until their case goes to trial.

A hearing on the request for a preliminary injunction was to be held today in Norfolk Circuit Court. Instead, the students and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, which represents them, agreed to let the random searches continue, for now.

Attorneys for the students and the school system signed a court order last week agreeing to continue the schools' current written policy.

School officials say they have always adhered to this written policy. It allows students to be searched at random with metal detectors and, if necessary, by hand. School officials say this is necessary to stop weapons and drugs from getting into schools.

In court papers, school officials say they conduct three searches aweek at each school, and that hundreds of weapons have been confiscated in the last five years in these searches. About 1,100 searches were conducted in the 1995-96 school year among 13,600 students in middle school and high school.

The four students who are suing, however, say school officials searched them even when metal detectors did not indicate potential problems. The students also challenge the policy itself, claiming it violates the state constitution.

Now that the preliminary injunction issue is resolved, the judge probably will not rule for months, if at all. If today's hearing had been held, the judge would have had to rule on the likelihood of the students winning their case. That is one factor in granting a preliminary injunction.

But if the school system prevails, the case will never go to trial. The school system has asked the judge to throw out the case for several reasons. School officials are generally immune from lawsuits while performing their official duties.

A hearing on the school system's motions is scheduled for March 28. At that time, the case probably will be set for trial, most likely for September, said Mary C. Bauer, an ACLU staff lawyer in Richmond who is handling the case.

The students seek a court order striking down the search policy. They also seek money damages.

The original lawsuit was filed Dec. 2 by a student at Maury High School, Matthew Smith. He was joined last month by three more students at Maury and Granby high schools: James A. DesRoches II, James Smyth and Graham Condon. KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT

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