By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court today rejected an appeal by a high school student who sued his teacher after she confiscated his cell phone.

Anthony Koch was a student at Sylvan Hills High School in the Pulaski County Special School District when he took a cell phone into a classroom on Sept. 4, 2008, in violation of the student handbook, according to the opinion. Koch’s teacher, Nancy Adams, confiscated the phone.

Koch asked if he could remove the phone’s SIM card, which contained personal information, but his request was denied. Adams turned the phone over to the school’s principal, Danny Ebbs, who stored it until Oct. 10, 2008, then sent it by certified mail to Koch’s father.

Koch filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court against Adams and Ebbs, alleging that they violated his property rights and his right to due process. He also asked for an injunction to stop the school district from seizing any students’ property.

The defendants argued that they acted in accordance with a school policy authorizing the confiscation of cell phones at school. A Pulaski County circuit judge dismissed the case in March 2009.

Koch argued on appeal that the school district had exceeded its authority. No state law authorizes school districts to promulgate policies that allow teachers to seize students’ property, he asserted.

In its opinion today upholding the circuit judge’s ruling, the Supreme Court said Section 6-18-502(c)(1) of the Arkansas Code gives school districts authority to “prescribe minimum and maximum penalties, including students’ suspension or dismissal from school,” for violating school policies.

The law “is plainly not exhaustive with respect to potential penalties for violating school policies,” Justice Robert Brown wrote in the opinion.