They’ll claim ignorance of the law. That will be their defense, and they’ll think that’s sufficient. After all, they are public school teachers and administrators. They are only checking up on the children for their own good, since parents are too ignorant, shiftless, and lazy to do so, even in a school district where the parents are probably much better educated than they are.
I bet a lot of people are losing sleep over this. There should be “zero tolerance” for this type of criminality. We aren’t talking about plastic knives in lunchboxes or drawings of guns or fake drugs. We are talking about real criminal behavior and ignorance is no excuse.
They will also claim that the parents/student are crazy/menace/troublemakers/unreasonable. The first thing they do is make you think you’re the crazy. Even many, many years later it is clear to me that process must be taught in Education Administration 101. Rules of engagement: deny, obfuscate, meet complaints with steely silence, claim there’s nothing they can do, blame the victim and then offer pity. Once parents are wild eyed and crazed with frustration and anger, dismiss them as wackos. Case closed.
Probably, but it won't be good enough. I am really surprised the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights in Philly hasn't joined this investigation.
Whoever got the big idea to do this needs to go where some prison pervert will be watching them 24/7.