While the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand (Spanz) is pleased with changes made to the Education Amendment Bill, they are also disappointed the changes will not allow them to use sniffer dogs to detect pupils carrying drugs.
Spanz president Tom Parsons said Search and Seizure Provisions in School Communities and the Revised Education Amendment Bill was recently given its second reading and is expected to become an Act on January 1, 2014.
He said the amendments went a long way to helping schools formalise the procedures which were already in use.
''The revised Amendment Bill, and the proposed amendments from the select committee [which] are likely to pass into law shortly, strongly reflects our sectors and our communities' concerns, provides stronger guidelines and actually empowers us to act in a far more effective way - albeit not quite as effective as we may have wished.''
Mr Parsons said the provisions contained in section 139AAAB now required pupils to hand over bags or other containers to be searched, and s139AAD required pupils to surrender items or computers or any other electronic devices where a teacher or authorised person had cause to believe it would have a detrimental affect on the learning environment.
Drug testing was now encouraged under s139AAB and school boards were empowered to require drug testing before a suspended pupil returned to school, he said.
Teachers were also now allowed to ask pupils to hand over items of outer clothing so it could be searched, provided the pupil had clothing on underneath.
However, he was disappointed schools were not permitted to use drug dogs to detect pupils carrying drugs for use and or supply, and deter pupils thinking of carrying drugs for use and or supply.
He said the new Act would restrict the use of dogs to school property and desks.
''The provisions of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 obviously must be considered in relation to our Act, but there does appear to be a double standard created between the public sector and school sector. It is lawful for sniffer dogs to investigate the personal space of people at entry points to our country, at airports for example, yet we are not able to use that particular tool in schools.''
Mr Parsons believed the same guidelines within schools would make more sense to pupils and would provide an expected pattern from school environment, through workplace, up to national entry and exit level at our ports and airports.
The Spanz executive would continue to work on the sector's behalf to make it happen, he said.
''It is obviously vital to have every possible support and legal power to enable us to be effective in this.
''We acknowledge the clear and unequivocal expectation from parents and the public for our schools to be drug free.''
