School officials do not need a warrant or probable cause prior to conducting a

search.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits all unreasonable searches and seizures by State
officers. Reasonableness is determined by balancing the governmental interest behind
the search against the privacy intrusion of the search. The Supreme Court has held that
students have a legitimate expectation of privacy in their persons and accompanying
possessions. However, the Court also has held that schools have a substantial interest
in maintaining security and order in the classroom and on school grounds. The Court
has determined that this interest justifies a more flexible standard of reasonableness
for searches of students that are conducted by school officials as opposed to law
enforcement officers. Thus, the Court has held that school officials, unlike the police,
do not need to obtain a warrant prior to conducting a search. Nor do they need
probable cause to believe that a violation of the law has occurred.