When Jane Doe passes the gates of her high school, she enters a completely different environment, one where a student’s constitutional rights are not automatically extended.

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing the case of Savanna Redding, a then 13-year-old Safford, AZ girl, who felt that her constitutional rights were being violated when her school administrators strip searched her.

School officials claimed that Redding was in possession of unauthorized prescription drugs, according to an April 16, 2009, story on usatoday.com.

"When searching an individual, I first require probable cause to initiate the search," WHS school resource officer Cecil Jackson said. "But I wouldn’t go as far as strip searching a student."

Unlike law enforcement, school officials do not require probable cause and can search a student without first contacting a parent.

"The school administration does not have to have contact a parent in order to conduct a search," Brooke Obad, assistant principal of discipline and attendance, said.

However, Obad said that a parent would be "immediately" contacted if his or her child was found to possess illegal paraphernalia.

Parents of 18-year-old students would also be contacted unless the student was emancipated from his or her parent or guardian.

"Your age doesn’t really matter," Obad said. "If you’re still in school, you can still be searched."

When students enter school campus, school administrators obtain broad discretion to search a student’s property.

On campus, a student’s personal property as well as their backpack and car become school property and are subject to adminstrator inspection if needed.

"For example, if we [WHS] still had lockers and a student had something illegal stored in there, I could go into his or her locker without first asking permission," Obad said.

Such discretion has been upheld by previous Supreme Court rulings.

In the Supreme Court case of New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985), the Court ruled that public school searches are covered by the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee of unreasonable searches and seizures.

While the Court maintained that students do have a right to privacy through the Fourth Amendment, they ruled that school officials have a responsiblity to protect students’ safety and preserve the educational process.

"I actually think its an invasion of privacy and parents should always be contacted first," senior Kayla Doherty said.

Obad said that when conducting a search of any kind, she looks for items that seem dangerous and pose a serious threat to the school.

"School officials should first have proof before searching a student," junior Tanisha Crawford said. "They should even go as far as getting a search warrant."

Although searches of this type are necessary to maintain campus safety, Obad added that she dislikes this part of her job.

"I dislike it because it involves student’s personal property," she said.

Obad added that when she engages in a search she usually has two other school officials present, but if a male student is involved, a male administrator would also accompany the search.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Redding, school administrators’ discretion to conduct such searches will be limited.

Obad, however, said that this ruling will have little impact on the way searches are done.

According to a recent Rampage poll of 200 students, 68 percent said that they disagree with strip searches done in school in the name of safety.

Eighteen percent said that they agree with strip searches conducted in the name of safety.