(1) A school principal, vice principal, or principal's designee may search a student, the student's possessions, and the student's locker, if the principal, vice principal, or principal's designee has reasonable grounds to suspect that the search will yield evidence of the student's violation of the law or school rules. A search is mandatory if there are reasonable grounds to suspect a student has illegally possessed a firearm in violation of RCW 9.41.280.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the scope of the search is proper if the search is conducted as follows:

(a) The methods used are reasonably related to the objectives of the search; and

(b) Is not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the suspected infraction.

(3) A principal or vice principal or anyone acting under their direction may not subject a student to a strip search or body cavity search as those terms are defined in RCW 10.79.070.

Severability—1989 c 271: See note following RCW 9.94A.510.