Letter To The Editor – Disturbed By The Warrantless Search Of Our Children

To the Editor:
I read with dismay the article in the June 7 Eastwick Press regarding the “Drug Sniff at BCS.”
It is refreshing to know that no drugs were found. However, it is equally disturbing to know our school administrators and County Sheriff’s Department felt it would be acceptable to conduct a warrantless search/sniff of our children’s belongings. If there was no explicit reason to suspect these children, there should have been no reason to conduct the search.
I wonder how the teachers, custodians, assistants, administrators would have felt if their pocketbooks, wallet, pant pockets, backpacks were sniffed as they entered the school or got out of their cars. Would the Sheriff’s Department have felt they could ask the adults to line up and place their belongings on the ground? Would the adults have complied?
This was not a drill. It was an assault on our children’s civil rights and privacy. I believe the BCS School Administration owes an apology to the children and to their parents.
Sincerely,
Anita Henry
Schmich Road, Stephentown