School denies that 12-year-old girls were strip-searched

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — School officials are denying a report that four 12-year-old girls were strip-searched for suspected drug use at an upstate New York middle school.

Community members packed a Binghamton school board meeting this week to demand answers after reports circulated on social media that the girls, who are black, were strip-searched by the school nurse and assistant principal because they seemed giddy in the lunch room.

A community group distributed a statement at Tuesday’s meeting saying the children were “ashamed, humiliated and traumatized” after being told to remove clothing Jan. 15.

The school district issued a statement Thursday that officials “did not conduct a strip search.” It says a medical evaluation may require removal of bulky outside clothing to expose an arm to take blood pressure, but that’s “not the same as a strip search.”

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This story has been corrected to show that the incident happened Jan. 15, not Feb. 15.