Students react to classmate asked to strip

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (WSVN) -- Just One Station talked to an outraged student who was strip-searched at school while faculty members looked for a snake that was brought to campus by another student.

They say you can't learn common sense in school, but students and faculty members at Miami Sunset High School received a common sense lesson, like don't bring a boa constrictor to school and don't strip-search kids.

It may not be in the lesson plan, but students at Miami Sunset High School are discussing what happened in a classroom last week when a student was asked to take off his pants. "I would feel violated, I would feel embarrassed, I would be hesitant to come back and show my face in the school, to be honest," said student Xavier Rojas.

Another student added, "My friend was the one that got searched, and he told me that they came and started searching him for no reason and that he didn't have the snake on him."

A concerned parent, Barbara Cardenas, said, "We need to get a little bit more information. Hopefully we will find out more."

The accusation is that a school administrator at Miami Sunset High last Thursday commanded the now humiliated 17-year-old senior to strip because a boa constrictor was spotted in the classroom.

It was at that point that the student, who asked 7News to withhold his name, claims school officials made him strip down to his boxers in front of his male classmates. "It was pretty humiliating because I had to take off my pants in front of all my friends and peers," said the student.

The student's father, Albert Scaletti, said, "I was appalled that, A, someone would strip search my son over a pet, and, B, it was done by a Dade County school employee."

The attorney hired by the student's family, David Kubiliun, said, "First of all, they had him drop his pants to his ankles, they patted him down by his ankles, then they grabbed his boxer shorts, like this, and started shaking him."

Kubiliun and the student said the school employee was trying to get to the bottom of who hid the snake, which was brought to class by another boy.

Kubiliun's client was the first teen picked for the snake search. "After that happened, the child that had the snake came forward and said, 'Leave him alone. I'm the one with the snake,'" said the student's father.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokesperson John Schuster released a statement that reads, "School administrators were advised that a student was in possession of a live snake and several students were questioned. A parent complained of improper procedures, and the district is looking into the matter."

The student's attorney is asking for an investigation into the incident.

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