High-school junior Louis Brenner (at left), claiming a violation of his rights, is staying home this week to protest a new citywide policy of random metal-detector searches of all students. Principal Alan Frishman (above) Wednesday urged Brenner to return — and promised to work with him on a social-studies research project on the constitution.
“I ask Louis please to come to school,” said Frishman, principal of Metropolitan Business Academy at the corner of Blake and Valley streets, across from the 500 Blake Street restaurant. “We’re missing him. He’s missing a valuable education.
“He’s a bright student. I applaud his interest in the constitution. I want to explore that. I want all the kids here to be safe. I want them to learn. This is a teachable moment.”
Brenner’s protest follows a one-day protest by a student at another high school, Career, who also refused to submit to a metal-detector search. (Click here to read Channel 8’s report on that case.)
Brenner began his protest Friday, and so far hasn’t let up. He’s upset about a new district-wide policy enacted by Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo. In response to a summer of rampant youth violence in New Haven, including the murders of two 13 year-olds, Mayo has ordered random security checks of students at all high schools. The decision to ramp up security came after students received and signed handbooks that contained the old policy, which didn’t include those random searches.
Brenner noticed that fact after he refused to allow security guards to swipe his backpack with a metal wand. The school checks some students each day, picked at random, as they walk through these doors.
“I do not consent to an unwarranted search,” declared Brenner, who’s 16. “I would like to exercise my Fourth Amendment right.”
Brenner was sent home. He read the handbook he’d received at orientation for the new school year. It stated that searches would be conducted only on “reasonable grounds at the inception of the search that indicate a particular student is in possession of an item or a substance that represents a material threat.”
When he returned to school this week, he brought the handbook. He refused again to be searched. He was sent to the principal. He showed Principal Frishman the handbook. No dice. They had a friendly chat. Principal Frishman informed him the policy had been updated since the publication of the handbook. Frishman told Brenner he had to follow the superintendent’s policy. He urged him to stay in school. But Brenner refused to submit to searches.
“I would not mind these searches if they had a real reason to believe that I, the individual, has a weapon, but this is not the case,” Brenner said. “Since these searches only encompass close to one in five students, I believe the resources and money are being wasted. Our rights are being infringed and yet there is still an 80 percent chance a student may come to school with a potentially harmful weapon. I believe this has to stop.”
Brenner wrote those words as part of a longer account of his experience. Click here to read it.
“On balance our job is to make the schools safe for every student and staff member and ensure a safe and productive learning environment,” said Sue Weisselberg, speaking for the school system. ““We believe the use of metal detectors and hand-held wands will help provide that.”
Principal Frishman said he agrees with Mayo’s new policy, which may come up for review by the Board of Education as soon as next week. Frishman compared schools to airports. “This is a public space. I have a responsibility to keep everyone safe.”
At the same time, he said, “I’m concerned that Louis is not at school.” He described Brenner as a good student and well-behaved. He said he’d be happy to work personally with him on a special project studying the constitutional and other issues involved in the policy. At the same time, he said, he can’t treat Brenner differently from other students by exempting him from random searches.
As she left school Wednesday, student Veronica Everson (pictured) said she has no problem with being searched.
“Everybody should be searched, so everyone can be safe,” she said. Does she have concerns about consitutional rights? “If you have a problem with it,” she argued, that might mean you have something to hide, and need to be searched.