D.H. v. Clayton County School District (52 F. Supp. 3d 1261, 2014)

ORDER

AMY TOTENBERG, District Judge.

This case involves the constitutionality of a strip search conducted by a school official on a seventh grade boy in the presence of other students. It is before the Court on the parties’ Cross Motions for Summary Judgment [Docs. 112, 114, 116, 117] and Plaintiffs Motion to Strike Declaration of Latasha Lowe [Doc. 137]. The Court’s rulings are set forth below.

I. BACKGROUND

D.H. was a twelve-year old seventh grader at Eddie White Academy on February 8, 2011 when he was required to strip down to his underwear by an assistant principal searching for marijuana. (See D.H. Dep. at 7, 14, 59.) Eddie White Academy (“EWA”) is a public school in the Clayton County School District consisting of grades kindergarten through eighth grade. (Ratcliff Dep. at 80; McDowell Dep. at 152.) Although this case involves only tbe claims of D.H., he was the fourth student to be searched for suspected possession of marijuana at the school. Therefore it is helpful to first discuss the events leading up to the search of D.H. to put the search in context.

On February 8, 2011, EWA Assistant Principal Sheneaise Williams Ratcliff (“Ratcliff’) was informed by the School Resource Officers (“SRO”), Ricky Red-ding (“Deputy Redding”), that a student had reported that “[D.V.] had drugs in the school and was passing them around the classroom.” (Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1; Rat-cliff Dep. at 10; Redding Dep. at 51, 86-87.) According to Ratcliff, “there had been prior situations with D.V. and speculation of drugs,” and that he had been searched on several other occasions for suspicion of bringing weapons and drugs to school. (Ratcliff Dep. at 32-33, 40.)

A. Searches of D.V., T.D., and R.C.

At that time, the seventh grade students were in their first period classes. (Ratcliff Dep. at 39-40.) Ratcliff pulled D.V.’s schedule of classes, and went to retrieve him out of his first period art class. (Id. at 39.) Ratcliff asked D.V. to bring his book bag with him to her office. (Id.) Once in her office, Ratcliff asked D.V. to open his book bag and empty its contents. (Id. at 39-41; Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1.) D.V. complied, emptied all of the contents of his book bag on a table, and Ratcliff looked inside the bag’s zipper compartment. (Ratcliff Dep. at 40-41.) It appeared nothing was in the book bag. (Id.) Although she does not remember asking D.V. to pull his pockets inside out, Ratcliff testified that she “might have because that was typical.” (Ratcliff Dep. at 41.) Eventually during the search, D.V. stated “I know what you all are looking for,” and identified another seventh grade student, R.C., as someone he had seen with marijuana. (Ratcliff Dep. at 42-43; Redding Dep. at 87-88.) Although Ratcliff testified that D.V. did not mention where R.C. had hidden the marijuana, according to her February 9, 2011 written statement, D.V. indicated that the marijuana was in R.C.’s book bag. (Ratcliff Dep. at 43; Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1.)

Ratcliff then escorted D.V. to the front office to wait while she went to retrieve R.C. from his class. (Ratcliff Dep. at 43-44; Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1.) Ratcliff brought R.C. to Deputy Redding’s office and asked him whether he had drugs on him. (Rat-cliff Dep. at 44^16; Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1.) According to Ratcliff, after R.C. denied having drugs, she asked him to open and empty his book bag and she performed a search of the book bag and found nothing. (Ratcliff Dep. at 46-48; see also Redding Dep. at 89.) During the search, Ratcliff perceived R.C. to be visibly nervous and thought he was being untruthful about having drugs. (Ratcliff Dep. at 49.) Rat-cliff also testified that she believes she would have asked R.C. to turn his pockets inside out. (Ratcliff Dep. at 50.) R.C. then informed Ratcliff that T.D., also a student in the seventh grade, was in possession of marijuana at school. (Ratcliff Dep. at 49-50; Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1; Red-ding Dep. at 90.)

By.this time, the seventh grade students were in their second period classes. (Rat-cliff Dep. at 51.) Ratcliff left Deputy Red-ding’s office to go find T.D. in his second period class. (Ratcliff Dep. at 50-51.) While Ratcliff was gone to find T.D., Deputy Redding waited in the office with R.C. According to Deputy Redding, R.C. was fidgeting. Redding asked R.C. to remove his shoes and socks.' (Redding Dep. at 91, 98.) R.C. removed his shoes and socks and a bag of marijuana and two rolled blunts fell out onto the floor. (Redding Dep. at 91-92.) Deputy Redding asked R.C. to pick the marijuana up and put it on the desk beside him. (Redding Dep. at 92.) Deputy Redding informed Ratcliff upon her return that marijuana had been found on R.C., who indicated he had gotten the marijuana from D.V. (Redding Dep. at 92.) R.C. told Ratcliff that D.V. had marijuana in his book bag. (Redding Dep. at 99.)

When Ratcliff returned to Deputy Red-ding’s office with T.D., Deputy Redding said to him “you know what we’re looking for so ... give it to us.” (Ratcliff Dep. at 52; Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1; Redding Dep. at 92-93.) In response, T.D. “turned away from [Ratcliff,] unbuttoned his pants and reached in what appeared to be his underwear and pulled out” marijuana wrapped in plastic. (Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1; Ratcliff Dep. at 52-55; Redding Dep. at 93 (stating that T.D. “turned away from Ms. Ratcliff, and he reached down in his pants and pulled out a bag of marijuana and gave it to Ms. Ratcliff”).) According to Ratcliff, she saw T.D. reach in his pants and believed he was reaching into his underwear “[b]ecause he reached kind of deep and it was in the front. It wasn’t a side pocket. It was directly in the front” and he did not appear to be pulling it out “from between his belt and the outside of his pants.” (Ratcliff Dep. at 54-56.) T.D. turned around, with his pants slightly undone, and put the marijuana he took out from inside his pants onto Deputy Redding’s desk. (Ratcliff Dep. at 55, 86.) The “bag” of marijuana found on T.D. was about the size of the exhibit sticker used for the deposition exhibits in the case. (McDowell Dep. 104-105.)

In her deposition, Ratcliff states that T.D. told her that he got the drugs from D.H. (Ratcliff Dep. at 57.) However, her February 9, 2011 written statement does not indicate that D.H. was identified by T.D. as having drugs. After counsel referred Ratcliff to her written statement, Ratcliff stated that she was not in the room when she believes T.D. implicated D.H. but “just assumed it was the next child,” apparently because D.H. was the next student that Deputy Redding asked to see. (Ratcliff Dep. at 61-64.) Ratcliffs written statement indicates that she left the room after T.D. produced the marijuana from his underwear in order to get fellow Assistant Principal Tyrus McDowell (“McDowell”) to take over the investigation. (Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1; Ratcliff Dep. at 57, 60; McDowell Dep. 88.) Her written statement further indicates that when she returned to Deputy Redding’s office to meet Mr. McDowell she observed more drugs on his desk and asked Deputy Red-ding where the drugs had come from. (Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1.) Redding informed her, that the drugs had been found in R.C.’s sock. (Id.) Mr. McDowell then arrived to continue the searches. (Id.) “Deputy Redding later called for [Ratcliff] to bring [D.V.’s] book bag to his office. Upon bringing the book bag he asked to see D.H.” (Id.) Ratcliffs written statement is consistent with: (1) Deputy Redding’s testimony that T.D. said that the marijuana came from. R.C., (Redding Dep. at 97), (2) Mr. McDowell’s testimony that he asked Ratcliff to get D.H. after searching D.V. and that it was D.V. who had identified D.H., (McDowell Dep. at 111, 158), and (3) T.D.’s testimony that he never stated to anyone that D.H. had marijuana at school, (T.D. Dep. at 52).

Ratcliff decided to turn the situation over to McDowell because T.D. seemed embarrassed and uncomfortable after reaching into his underwear in front of her during the search for the marijuana. (Ratcliff Dep. at 57, 87-88.) She left the room and went to call Mr. McDowell to let him know what had transpired with the search of T.D. (Ratcliff Dep. at 89.) Rat-cliff testified that she informed McDowell that the student had “pulled drugs out from what appeared to be his underwear.” (Ratcliff Dep. at 57-58.)

According to McDowell, Ratcliff called and asked him whether he had ever been aware of an incident where a student would hide marijuana in his or her underwear, to which McDowell responded he had not. (McDowell Dep. at 88-89.) McDowell testified that Ratcliff advised him that one or more students had hidden marijuana in their underwear, while her testimony indicates she only identified one student. (McDowell Dep. at 89; Ratcliff Dep. at 57-58.) Although at the time of his deposition, McDowell could not recall specifically whether Ratcliff said the marijuana was found in the student’s underwear, his waistband, or his pants, in his Responses to Plaintiffs Interrogatories, McDowell indicated that it was his “understanding that marijuana had already been found in the waistband of the underwear of one or both students who had already been searched.” (McDowell Dep. at 98; Doc. 138-8 at 3.) McDowell was not aware at the time that only one student had been found with marijuana in his underwear and believed that it may have been two students. (Id.)

When McDowell arrived at Deputy Red-ding’s office, he observed T.D. and R.C. in handcuffs. (McDowell Dep. at 90.) McDowell proceeded down the hall to the front office to locate Ratcliff. (Id. at 90-91.) McDowell found Ratcliff and D.V. in the front office, McDowell and Ratcliff spoke, and Ratcliff informed McDowell that D.V. was possibly connected to the marijuana found on the other students. (McDowell Dep. at 91-94.) McDowell believed that Ratcliff had already searched D.V.’s book bag and found nothing, but that she had not yet “searched him.” (Id. at 94.) McDowell then took D.V. down to Deputy Redding’s office so that he could perform a search of D.V. with Deputy Redding as a witness. (Id. at 94-95.) McDowell did not know who had reported D.V. as having drugs or the details of what had been reported to Ratcliff regarding his connection to the drugs previously found on the students he observed handcuffed in Redding’s office (T.D. and R.C). (Id. at 97-98.) At that time, McDowell was not aware of any other students alleged to be in possession of drugs at the school that day. (McDowell Dep. at 99.)

McDowell and Deputy Redding both asked D.V. whether he had any drugs on him, to which he responded “no.” (McDowell Dep. at 99.) At this time, McDowell observed that both T.D. and R.C. were crying. (Id.) McDowell then proceeded to search D.V., asking him to remove his shoes, socks, and top shirt, and to turn his pant pockets inside out. (McDowell Dep. at 106.) As McDowell observed that D.V. was wearing elastic basketball shorts underneath his pants, he asked D.V. to pull his pants down and turn the pockets of his shorts inside out. (Id. at 106-107.) McDowell then asked D.V. to pull his basketball shorts down to determine whether he was hiding drugs in the elastic waistband of the shorts. (Id. at 107.) At this point, D.V. was standing in his underwear which were “boxer briefs,” which McDowell explained unlike “boxers” have elastic at the waist, leg, and the bottom. (Id. at 107, 109.) McDowell asked D.V. to “pull those away from his actual physical person, away and down, just to make sure that there was ... nothing hidden in the elastic part of those.” (Id. at 107.) When D.V. complied by pulling his underwear down, McDowell could see D.V.’s genitals from where he was standing. (Id.) Once McDowell saw that D.V. did not have any drugs hidden in his underwear, he told D.V. to pull his pants back up and put his shirt back on. (Id.) Having found no drugs on D.V.’s person, McDowell called Ratcliff to bring D.V.’s book bag from the . office. (Ratcliff Dep. at 59; Ratcliff Dep. Ex. 1.) McDowell searched D.V.’s book bag and found a small compartment with an Altoid tin containing marijuana. (McDowell Dep. at 110.)

According to McDowell, D.V. then identified D.H. as another student possibly having marijuana in his possession. (McDowell Dep. at 111.) Without questioning D.V. further about the specific facts concerning D.H.’s alleged possession of marijuana, McDowell then called Rat-cliff over the radio to ask her to bring D.H. to Deputy Redding’s office. (Id.) R.C. and T.D. both testified that R.C. told McDowell and Deputy Redding that D.H. did not have any drugs on him before they pulled D.H. out of class. (R.C. Dep. at 91; T.D. Dep. at 52-53.)

B. Search of D.H.

D.H. was in his Language Arts class when Ratcliff came to the classroom and told him to bring his book bag and come with her. (D.H. Dep. at 81, 84; see Rat-cliff Dep. at 65-66.) Ratcliff escorted D.H. to Deputy Redding’s office. (D.H. Dep. at 85.) Ratcliff did not tell D.H. why he had been called out of class. (Id. at 86; Rat-cliff Dep. at 66.) Ratcliff had never had any issues with D.H. prior to the events of February 8, 2011 nor had he ever been reported as having brought illegal drugs to school. (Ratcliff Dep. at 66.) Ratcliff testified that while one could make the assumption that because some students had marijuana in their underwear that some others might also, she personally did not anticipate that D.H. might also have marijuana in his underwear even after observing T.D. apparently pulling marijuana from his underwear. (Ratcliff Dep. at 89-90.) There is no evidence that McDowell endeavored to talk with Ratcliff about her perceptions of D.H. prior to proceeding with his search of D.H. Defendants have not pointed to any evidence that McDowell took any action to determine whether D.H. was known to associate with D.V. or any of the other students who had been found with marijuana, or whether D.H. had been suspected previously of drug involvement. Nor did McDowell talk with Ratcliff or any other administrator about D.H.’s prior disciplinary record or lack of one.

Deputy Redding, McDowell, D.V., T.D., and R.C. were present in Deputy Red-ding’s office when D.H. arrived with Rat-cliff. (D.H. Dep. at 88-89.) Deputy Red-ding informed D.H. that drugs had been found at the school and he and McDowell wanted to know whether he had any drugs on him. (D.H. Dep. at 90.) D.H. denied having any drugs on him. (Id.) Redding asked him “are you sure because you are going to get searched,” and D.H. responded that “yes,” he was sure that he was not in possession of any drugs. (Id.)

According to McDowell, when D.H. entered Deputy Redding’s office, McDowell explained to him that he had been identified or accused as being in possession of marijuana on the school campus. (McDowell Dep. at 114.) McDowell informed D.H. that “because of the severity of the situation” he was going to have to search him “just to make sure” he did not have any drugs on him. (Id. at 114-115, 119.) McDowell then told D.H. to empty his book bag. (D.H. Dep. at 91.) McDowell looked through the pencil boxes, zippers, and pouches of D.H.’s book bag. (Id. at 92.)

McDowell then proceeded to search D.H.’s person. (D.H. Dep. at 92.) McDowell first told D.H. to take off his shoes. (Id. at 93; see also McDowell Dep. at 119 (stating that he asked D.H. to remove his shoes and socks).) Then he asked D.H. to empty his pockets. (D.H. Dep. at 94; see also McDowell Dep. at 119.) After D.H. emptied out his pockets, McDowell told him to take off his pants. (D.H. Dep. at 94; see also McDowell Dep. at 119 (stating that he asked D.H. to pull his pants down).) D.H. dropped his pants to the floor, stepped his legs out of them, and pushed them aside with his foot. (Id. at 95.) Underneath his pants, D.H. was wearing red and navy blue Tommy Hilfiger boxers—the kind with an elastic waist but that are loose around the thigh. (Id. at 94-95,113.)

According to D.H. at this point in time, R.C. said aloud that D.H. did not have any drugs. (D.H. Dep. at 96.) D.H. testified that Deputy Redding responded by saying “why didn’t you say that before we brought him in here,” to which R.C. stated that he had told McDowell. (D.H. Dep. at 97.) Deputy Redding testified that R.C. told McDowell that D.H. did not have drugs on him and that D.V. was lying. (Redding Dep. at 127.) According to Deputy Redding, R.C. made this statement after McDowell had searched D.H. (Red-ding Dep. at 127-128.)

At some point, McDowell asked D.H. to remove his uniform polo-style shirt, which according to D.H. was the only shirt he was wearing that day. (D.H. Dep. at 99.) D.H. testified that he was not wearing an undershirt. (Id.) McDowell next told D.H. to flip his socks at the top to see if he was hiding anything under the band of the sock. (D.H. Dep. at 100.) McDowell then told D.H. to take off his socks. (D.H. Dep. at 100-101.) Finally, McDowell pointed at D.H.’s boxers and said “take those off.” (D.H. Dep. at 102; see also McDowell Dep. at 120 (stating that he asked D.H. to “pull his underwear away from his body and in a down motion just in case if [sic] he had anything in his—on his person, it would fall to—fall to the ground”).) D.H. asked McDowell “do I have to do this here,” to which McDowell responded yes. (D.H. Dep. at 102.) D.H. complied by turning to the left (with his back to his classmates) and pulling his underwear down to his ankles. (D.H. Dep. at 103, 105, 107.) McDowell paused, bent over and observed D.H.’s genitalia. (D.H. Dep. at 108; McDowell Dep. at 120-121.) After finding nothing hidden in D.H.’s underwear, McDowell asked him to put his clothes back on. (D.H. Dep. at 108; McDowell Dep. 120.) No marijuana or other illegal contraband was found on D.H. or in his belongings. (McDowell Dep. 124; Def.’s Resp. to PSMF ¶ 10.) Prior to requiring D.H. to strip down to his underwear to search him for marijuana, McDowell did not conduct a search of his locker, gym locker, desk, wastebasket, or classroom. (McDowell Dep. at 126-129.)

According to McDowell, D.H. asked whether they could go to the restroom to do the search. (McDowell Dep. at 120.) McDowell denied D.H.’s request because as he explained he needed Deputy Red-ding to be a witness to the search. (Id. at 125.) McDowell admitted that he could have called Ratcliff in to observe the other students in Deputy Redding’s office while he and Deputy Redding went to the bathroom to conduct the search of D.H., but he did not think of that as an option at the time. (Id.)

After searching D.H., McDowell escorted D.H. to the counselor’s office to call his mother to advise her of the search and then sent D.H. back to class. (D.H. Dep. at 109-110.) D.H.’s stepfather immediately came to pick him up from school and D.H. never returned to EWA. (Id. at 110— 112, 14.) D.H. was immediately withdrawn from EWA as a result of the search and began attending a different school. (Id. at 14.)

D.H. suffered deep embarrassment as a result of being subjected to the strip search by McDowell. (Id. at 69, 122.) D.H. never again wore that pair of underwear and threw them away. (Id. at 114.) D.H. was teased by a classmate who heard about the search and called him “Spider-man,” a reference, he believed, made regarding his underwear. (Id. at 118.) D.H. testified that since the search, he has had difficulty trusting adults in positions of authority such as teachers, principals, and officers. (Id. at 122.) The embarrassment of the search also changed his behavior. Prior to the search, D.H. would change clothes in the presence of his teammates before and after a sports practice. As a result of the search, he became uncomfortable undressing in front others and no longer changes for football and basketball in front of his teammates, but instead chooses to change in a bathroom stall. (Id. at 50-59, 122.) Some of his teammates have asked him why he changes in the bathroom stall and thought it was a joke when he told them he felt weird changing in front of them. (Id. at 57.) D.H. testified that he now feels like “somebody could be watching” him. (Id. at 56.)

Assistant Principals Ratcliff and McDowell considered the presence of marijuana at school a serious problem and thus believed that administrators could search students and their belongings to find marijuana. (See Ratcliff Dep. at 94 (testifying that “marijuana and guns in schools” is “a very serious problem” and that if marijuana is found at school the administrators need to find it); McDowell Dep. at 114,119 (testifying that the students searched were searched for marijuana because of the severity of the situation).) McDowell considered the presence of drugs at the school to be particularly problematic because of the unique situation at EWA which includes kindergarten through eighth grade. (McDowell Dep. at 152.) Although the school was architecturally broken out into separate wings with “K through 5” on one side and “6 through 8” on the other, students at EWA share the common areas, including the cafeteria, library, courtyards, and front office, and sixth through eighth grade girls had some courses on the elementary wing. (McDowell Dep. at 153.)

In her positions as counselor and assistant principal, Ratcliff had received training as to the different places students will hide drugs, including hiding it in their pants. (Ratcliff Dep. at 67-68.) The February 8, 2011 search of T.D. was the first instance during which Ratcliff had experi-eneed a student hiding drugs inside or beneath his pants (other than in pockets). (Ratcliff Dep. at 67-68.) The three students, R.C., T.D., and D.V. were found with less than 1 ounce of marijuana each. (Redding Dep. 91, 93.)

C. CCSD Search Policies

According to Plaintiff, the official CCSD search policy at issue in February 2011, as set forth in the administrative regulation JD-R(l) provides:

INTERROGATIONS AND SEARCHES

The principal or designee of each school in the District is authorized to conduct reasonable interviews of students in order to properly investigate and address student misconduct. Students who are suspected of misconduct or of violating the Student Code of Conduct may be questioned about misconduct by school staff. Students who may have been witnesses to misconduct on the part of other students, faculty, and/or staff may be asked to provide oral or written statements regarding what they know about the event being investigated. Principals or designees may interview students without prior notice or permission of parents/guardians.

As permitted by applicable authority, the principal or designee of each school in the District may conduct reasonable inspection of students’ school lockers, articles carried upon their persons, and vehicles in order to properly investigate and address student misconduct.

Searches based on reasonable suspicion may proceed without hindrance or delay, and they should be conducted as directed by school administration. Searches will be based on a reasonable suspicion of the presence of harmful or prohibited items.

Lockers, desks and school/classroom storage areas are the property of the District. Students shall not consider these areas to be private.

(Hendrix -Dep. Ex. 10; Hendrix Dep. at 77 (testifying that this was the search policy that was in place at the time the Plaintiffs search was conducted in February 2011).)

According to CCSD there are two search policies at issue in this case: (1) the official administrative regulation set forth in JD-R(l) (quoted above), and (2) a statement regarding “Search and Seizure” in an undated version of a CCSD Student Handbook. (See CCSD SMF ¶ 6, 7; CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 13.) The undated version of the Student Handbook provides:

Search and Seizure

Clayton County Public Schools may use metal detectors, sniffing dogs or other detection devices, such as wands, etc., to ensure school safety. Routine unannounced searches of cars on school property, school buses, lockers, school computers, and student desks will be conducted by school officials. Students and parents are hereby notified that a student has no expectation of privacy in these locations, including in student vehicles if the student chooses to exercise the privilege of parking on campus. Unauthorized items and items that threaten the safety of self and others will be seized and the appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.

(CCSD SMF ¶ 7; Lowe Decl. Ex. 2.)

D. Evidence of Administrator Training and Other Searches

At the time of the February 8, 2011 search, CCSD employees, including McDowell had not received any training on how or when to conduct a strip search, including that:

(a) individual suspicion was required to conduct a strip search of a student, (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 1);

(b) a strip search could be conducted only in situations where there was a belief that a student possessed contraband that could pose a danger if not found, (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 2);

(c) the age of the student must be taken into account when deciding whether to conduct a strip search or how extensive a search should be, (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶3);

(d) the presence of others/witnesses should be taken into account before conducting a strip search of a student, (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 4); and

(e) a search underneath the clothing of a student could be conducted only if officials believed there was contraband underneath the clothing, (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 5).

CCSD had no written training materials from 2000 to 2011 addressing when or how to conduct strip searches. (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 6.) CCSD’s only written training document that discusses student strip searches is dated July 2012, after the search of D.H. on February 8, 2011. (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 7.)

CCSD’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness, Douglas Hendrix, Chief of Human Resources and Public Information Officer for Clayton County Public School District, testified, based on his personal experience that CCSD held annual training from 2004 to 2007 for principal and assistant principals where it “was always mentioned” that no strip searches of students were permitted. (Hendrix Dep. at 26, 59-60; see also CCSD SMF ¶ 11 (stating “[f]rom at least 2000 to 2007, CCSD has provided training on searches and other topics through its student services division”).) CCSD kept no records regarding its employees’ attendance at trainings. (CCSD Resp. to PSMF ¶ 8.) Hendrix testified that he thinks the training has not changed, but acknowledged that he had no information or knowledge of the training as Defendant’s 30(b)(6) designee for the period after 2007. (Id.) In his official capacity as CCSD representative, Hendrix testified that the only specific knowledge he had that each of the school district’s principals and assistant principals received training about strip searches would be from the written training documents created by the school district’s counsel. (Hendrix Dep. at 60-62.) CCSD’s written training materials from 2010 do not include any references to strip searches. (Hendrix Dep. at 63-64.)

McDowell testified that he did not receive any training from CCSD regarding his authority to search students or the limits on conducting strip searches. (McDowell Dep. at 41, 48.) McDowell was never trained or informed by anyone at CCSD as to what “applicable authority” governed the scope of the school district’s search policy and had no information upon which to assess what was meant by the policy’s reference to “applicable authority.” (McDowell Dep. at 62.) McDowell understood “however ... that the school administrators had the authority to search the person of a student.” (Id. at 48.) McDowell testified that “the person of a student” to him meant their clothing, pockets, book bags, and “anything that’s on the physical person of the student,” including their underwear or socks. (McDowell Dep. at 49-50.) Although McDowell was aware of the policy in the student handbook, he had not been told by anyone at CCSD to review the policy, and he had not reviewed it “for the specificity of it” until after he had conducted the February 8, 2011 searches. (McDowell Dep. at 57-58.) McDowell testified that he had no understanding of Clayton County policy with regard to the ability of administrators to search students at the time he worked there. (McDowell Dep. at 42.) He testified that his basis for believing that he had the authority to search students came from his interaction and prior work with principals at other schools that “administrators could initiate [a] search of a student if there is a reason to believe that the student needed to be searched. And Clayton County policy was not very specific on that.” (McDowell Dep. at 42.) Speeifi-cally, McDowell testified that he learned from his former principal at another Clayton County school'that if an administrator had reason to believe that a student had drugs or a weapon, that the student could be searched by the administration. (Id. at 43-47.) During the February 8, 2011 searches, McDowell relied on Deputy Red-ding’s position as the SRO to know the parameters of a lawful search better than his own knowledge. (McDowell Dep. at 132-133.) According to McDowell, Deputy Redding’s advice influenced McDowell’s decision to require D.Y. and D.H. to remove their pants during the search for marijuana. (McDowell Dep. at 132-133.) Deputy Redding, however, denies giving McDowell any directions or participating directly during the searches. (Redding Dep. at 108,135,137,139-140.)

McDowell was present during numerous searches of students suspected of possessing drugs conducted by the principals at Lovejoy High School, another CCSD school at which McDowell was previously employed as an assistant principal. (McDowell Dep. at 44-45.) These incidents involved book bag searches, students being asked to turn their pants pockets inside out, and searches of shorts worn under the students’ pants. (McDowell Dep. at 71-76.) McDowell testified that he participated in and observed searches where students were asked to pull out the pockets of shorts worn under their pants. (McDowell Dep. at 72-74.) McDowell further testified that it was possible that he asked students to pull down their pants in order to search the pockets of shorts worn under their pants, and that to ensure that nothing was hidden in those pockets it would be necessary to have the students take their pants down to access the pockets of their shorts. (McDowell Dep. at 75.)

Ratcliff testified that administrators at EWA conducted several searches of students and their belongings for suspicion of drugs. (Ratcliff Dep. at 23-36.) Ratcliff testified that during student searches, she has asked students to turn their pockets inside out, and searched book bags and desks. (Id. at 21, 27, 35.) However, the February 8, 2011 search of T.D. was the first instance during which Ratcliff had experienced a student hiding drugs underneath his clothing. (Id. at 67-68.)

CCSD does not know the total number of student searches conducted by its teachers or administrators. (Hendrix Dep. at 89-91.) CCSD admits that it has no mechanism in place to determine how many searches, searches of clothing, or strip searches its employees conduct. (CCSD Resp. PSMF ¶ 15.) CCSD does not maintain any standardized documentation system with the purpose of memorializing the date, time, location, and factual basis for the execution of student searches. (CCSD Resp. PSMF ¶ 15; Hendrix Dep. at 34-37.) CCSD does not maintain any centralized data collection device to record or analyze data regarding student searches. (CCSD Resp. PSMF ¶ 15.) CCSD is without any information about the total number of strip searches that have been conducted on its students from 1996 to the present. (CCSD Resp. PSMF ¶ 15.) CCSD has received a few other complaints of improper strip searches of students büt disputes the validity of these complaints. (CCSD Resp. PSMF ¶ 20.)

II. ANALYSIS

A. Plaintiffs Motion to Strike Declaration of Latasha Lowe

In a classic bait and switch maneuver, Defendant CCSD offers a new theory of its defense to Plaintiffs failure to train claim, supported by evidence of an entirely different search policy, for the first time in this litigation at the summary judgment stage. Abandoning its reliance on the Clayton County Policy JD-R(l) regarding student searches that was the subject of the parties’ motion to dismiss and extensive discovery, CCSD argued on summary judgment that a different policy found in an undated Student Handbook was the applicable official policy and prohibited searches of students. (See Mot. to Dismiss at 14 (citing Clayton County Policy JD-R(l) as “clearly demonstrating] that the District maintains a policy whereby student searches, including searches for “articles carried upon their person,” must be conducted in accordance with law (i.e., “As permitted by applicable authority”) and on the basis of “reasonable suspicion.”). CCSD offered this new “policy” through the Declaration of Latasha Lowe, the Legal Compliance Officer for the Clayton County School District, despite: (1) the fact that she had not been previously identified as a potential witness in its discovery responses or disclosures; (2) that its own 30(b)(6) Representative testified in discovery that the applicable policy was JD-R(l); and (3) that Defendant CCSD had admitted in its responses to Plaintiffs interrogatories that JD-R(l) constituted the applicable school district search policy. Plaintiff therefore moved to strike the Declaration of Latasha Lowe and the newly offered Student Handbook provision touted by CCSD as its official policy regarding student searches as the time the 2011 searches were conducted. Plaintiff does not object to the other documents attached to Ms. Lowe’s Declaration.

In response to the motion to strike, CCSD asserts that any implication that the Student Handbook attached to Ms. Lowe’s declaration was the applicable policy was inadvertent and that nothing in her declaration “was intended to contradict the fact that Board Policy JD-R(l) was in existence at the time of the search at issue.” (Resp. at 3.) CCSD’s position and its willingness to dissemble is troubling after having given interrogatory answers and binding admissions that apparently gave no indication that it would rely on the existence of a different policy—which is, in fact, not an actual school board policy. In adopting a new argument based on a wholly different policy statement, the policy issues briefed on summary judgment are out of sync based on CCSD’s partial admissions in response-to Plaintiffs Statement of Material Fact, which are often evasive and half-truths, at best.

Accordingly, because the undated Student Handbook statement attached to the Lowe Declaration was never produced in discovery and there is no competent evidence, other than Ms. Lowe’s untimely Declaration, that the Handbook statement was an applicable District policy during the relevant time period, the Court GRANTS IN PART Plaintiffs Motion to Strike [Doc. 137] as to the portions of the Lowe Declaration referring to the Student Handbook in Paragraph 8, as well the portions of paragraphs 6, 7, 9 and 10 offering substantive testimony regarding the other documents attached (beyond those needed to authenticate such documents). As a result, the Court will not consider the undated Student Handbook attached as Exhibit 2 to the Lowe Declaration or Defendant CCSD’s argument regarding the applicability of that “policy” statement.

B. Liability of Assistant Principal ■ McDowell for Strip Search of D.H.

Plaintiff seeks summary judgment in his favor arguing that the strip search conducted by McDowell on February 8, 2011 violated D.H.’s Fourth Amendment constitutional rights because “[decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit clearly establish that school administrators cannot strip search a student unless the strip search is likely to uncover contraband that poses an imminent danger based on a reasonable belief that the student possesses that contraband beneath his underwear.” See Safford Unified School Dist. No. 1 v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364, 129 S.Ct. 2633, 174 L.Ed.2d 354 (2009); Thomas ex rel. Thomas v. Roberts, 261 F.3d 1160 (11th Cir.2001), vacated, 536 U.S. 953, 122 S.Ct. 2653, 153 L.Ed.2d 829 (2002), reinstated, 323 F.3d 950 (11th Cir.2003). Plaintiff asserts that the strip search was unconstitutional for two reasons:

(1) The strip search was not justified at its inception: As McDowell had no information that D.H. individually possessed marijuana under his underwear, the strip search was not justified at its inception.

(2) The search as actually conducted was excessively intrusive and not reasonably related in scope to the circumstances justifying the search: Even if McDowell had received information that D.H. possessed marijuana in his underwear, the scope and nature of the search he actually conducted was far more intrusive than permissible in light of the age of the student and the specific circumstances presented. Forcing D.H. to expose his genitalia in the presence of other students was entirely unnecessary where the objective of the search could have been fully achieved by (a) asking D.H. to fold over the waistband of his boxer shorts as this would have revealed whether he possessed marijuana underneath the boxer shorts or (b) conducting the search in the privacy of a restroom, as requested by D.H.

See New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 341-42, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985) (setting out two part inquiry to assess constitutionality of student searches and reasoning that scope will be permissible when it is “not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction”). Plaintiff does not appear to contest the initiation of a search of D.H. limited to his bookbag and outer clothing. Rather, it is the inva-siveness of the strip search which is at issue here.

McDowell opposes Plaintiffs motion and seeks summary judgment in his favor, asserting the defense of qualified immunity. Essentially, McDowell contends that the Supreme Court’s decision in Safford does not clearly establish that the strip search of D.H. was unconstitutional. Characterizing the strip search of D.H. in front of all males as “a minimal intrusion” justified in an extreme scenario, McDowell argues that the search was not unreasonable where he was confronted with a combination of both a severe danger to students from the power of the drugs involved and their quantity along with specific knowledge that this type of drug would be hidden in a male student’s underwear. According to McDowell, because marijuana had been found in a book bag of one student, the sock of another, and the underwear of the third student, it was reasonable to search D.H. in all those locations to find a possible other source of marijuana.

1. Legal Standards Governing Student Searches

The Fourth Amendment’s right to be free from “unreasonable searches and seizures” applies to searches of students by public school officials. New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 334, 337, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985). In T.L.O., the Supreme Court held that

the accommodation of the privacy interests of schoolchildren with the substantial need of teachers and administrators for freedom to maintain order in the schools does not require strict adherence to the requirement that searches be based on probable cause to believe that the subject of the search has violated or is violating the law.

469 U.S. at 341, 105 S.Ct. 733. Rather, the Supreme Court adopted a reasonableness standard for student searches tailored to “ensure that the interests of" students will be invaded no more than is necessary to achieve the legitimate end of preserving order in the schools.” Id. at 343, 105 S.Ct. 733. The legality of a search of a student depends on the reasonableness, under all the circumstances, of the search. Id.

The T.L.O. Court established a two-pronged test to determine whether a search by school officials is reasonable: first, the court must consider “whether the ... action was justified at its inception,” and second, the court must determine whether the search as actually conducted “was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place.” Id. at 341-342, 105 S.Ct. 733. A search will be “justified at its inception” where there is “reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence the student has violated or is violating the law or the rules of the school.” Id.; Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1166. “The scope of a search will be permissible “when the measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction.’ ” Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1166 (citing T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 342, 105 S.Ct. 733).

It is axiomatic that “people harbor a reasonable expectation of privacy in their private parts” and that “a strip search represents a serious intrusion upon personal rights.” Justice v. City of Peachtree City, 961 F.2d 188, 192 (11th Cir.1992); Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1168 (“Although students may surrender some expectations of privacy when they enter the schoolhouse door, an expectation that they will be free from forced strip searches is not one of them.”). The Eleventh Circuit has repeatedly recognized that “the experience of disrobing and exposing one’s self for visual inspection by a stranger clothed with the uniform and authority of the state ... can only be seen as thoroughly degrading and frightening.” Justice, 961 F.2d at 192 (quoting John Does 1-100 v. Boyd, 613 F.Supp. 1514, 1522 (D.C.Minn.1985)); Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1168 (noting highly intrusive nature of search requiring students to drop their pants or lift their skirts and reveal their underwear). Unique circumstances arise in the context of strip searching children who “are especially susceptible to possible traumas from strip searches [and] may be most susceptible to influence and to psychological damage.” Justice, 961 F.2d at 188; T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 379, 105 S.Ct. 733 (“A search of a child’s person ... is undoubtedly a severe violation of subjective expectations of privacy[.]”); see also Safford; 557 U.S. at 375, 129 S.Ct. 2633 (noting that “adolescent vulnerability intensifies the patent intrusiveness of exposure” experienced during a strip search). Thus, in the context of school searches the courts have recognized that “schoolchildren retain a legitimate expectation of privacy in their persons, including an expectation that one should be able to avoid the unwanted exposure of one’s body, especially one’s ‘private parts.’ ” Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1168 (citing Justice, 961 F.2d at 191); see also Safford, 557 U.S. at 375, 129 S.Ct. 2633 (noting that dramatic difference of “a search exposing the body from the experience of nakedness or near undress in other school circumstances: Changing for gym is getting ready for play; exposing for a search is responding to an accusation reserved for suspected wrongdoers and fairly understood as so degrading that a number of communities have decided that strip searches are never reasonable and have banned them no matter what the facts may be”).

For these reasons, the Eleventh Circuit held that strip searches (searches where students are required to take off their clothing and expose their underwear) require school officials to possess individualized suspicion that a violation has been committed before forcing children to remove their clothes. Id. at 1169. In 2009, the Supreme Court confirmed that strip searches are “categorically distinct” and require “distinct elements of justification on the part of school authorities for going beyond a search of outer clothing and belongings.” Safford, 557 U.S. at 374, 129 S.Ct. 2633. The content of the suspicion must match the degree of intrusion. Id. at 375, 129 S.Ct. 2633. As this Court previously recognized, “‘the categorically extreme intrusiveness of a search down to the body of an adolescent’ requires an exacting level of individualized suspicion tied to hard evidence of contraband possession and knowledge that an intrusive search of the intimate parts of the body will actually ‘pay off.’ The mere spectre of a student’s possession of contraband is insufficient to justify such an intrusive search.” D.H. ex rel. Dawson v. Clayton County Sch. Dist., 904 F.Supp.2d 1301, 1307 (N.D.Ga.2012) (citing Safford Unified School District No. 1 v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364, 375-376, 129 S.Ct. 2633, 174 L.Ed.2d 354 (2009).)

Relying on its similarity to the Safford and Thomas searches, Plaintiff argues that the strip search of D.H. fails both prongs of the T.L.O. reasonableness test. The Court examines the evidence under each prong independently.

2. Whether McDowell’s strip search of D.H. was reasonable at its inception

According to Plaintiff, McDowell’s strip search of D.H. was unreasonable at its inception because it was not based on individualized suspicion that D.H. was hiding marijuana in his underwear. In light of the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Thomas requiring that school officials possess individualized suspicion in order to conduct a strip search, Plaintiff contends that school “officials cannot strip search a child on grounds that some child—perhaps a different child—engaged in wrongdoing.” (Pl.’s Br. at 15 (citing Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1169).) Thomas involved the mass strip search of a class of fifth grade students by two teachers for a missing envelope containing $26. The boys were taken into the boys’ bathroom in groups of four or five at a time by a male police officer assigned to the school and asked to drop their pants. Some of the boys dropped both their pants and their underwear. The girls were taken into the girls’ bathroom in groups of four or five at a time by their female teacher and asked to lower their pants and lift their dresses or shirts. Most of the girls were asked to lift their bras and expose their breasts. The Eleventh Circuit held that this mass strip search, without individualized suspicion that the students searched had taken the money, was unreasonable and thus a violation of the Fourth Amendment. 261 F.3d at 1168-69 (finding, in contrast, that cursory search of student—requiring him to pull out pockets of his pants, remove belt, and shake his pants—without removing his clothes was not excessively intrusive and therefore was justified absent individualized suspicion).

Plaintiffs further assert that the Supreme Court’s decision in Safford established that a student strip search is constitutionally permissible only when the school official is armed with a reasonable belief that the particular student possesses dangerous contraband underneath his or her underwear and a search of the child’s genitalia is likely to uncover the contraband. (Pl.’s Br. at 17 (citing Safford, 557 U.S. at 376, 129 S.Ct. 2633).) The issue addressed by the Court in Safford was “whether a 13-year-old student’s Fourth Amendment right was violated when she was subjected to a search of her bra and underpants by school officials acting on reasonable suspicion that she had brought forbidden prescription and over-the-counter drugs to school.” Safford, 557 U.S. at 368, 129 S.Ct. 2633. The Court concluded that “[bjecause there were no reasons to suspect the drugs presented a danger or were concealed in her underwear” the search violated the Constitution. Id.

In Safford, school officials had been informed by a student, Jordan, that he had been given a pill by another student, Marissa Glines, and that students were planning to take the pills at lunch. Jordan handed over the pill he had received from his classmate to the school officials. A week earlier Jordan had informed the school officials that certain students were bringing drugs to school and that he had been sick after taking some pills that he got from a classmate. Glines was pulled out of class and searched. The school officials found various contraband items in a day planner in her possession. A search of her pockets and wallet turned over a blue pill, several white pills, and a razor blade. The school officials determined that the pills were prescription and over the counter pain relievers banned under school rules without advance permission. When asked where the pills had come from, Glines identified Savana Redding. Glines denied knowing anything about the day planner and its contents. The school officials did not ask Glines any followup questions to determine whether Redding was in present possession of the pills or ¿where she might be hiding them. Glines was then subjected to a search of her bra and underpants, but no additional pills were found on her.

Redding was then called to the assistant principal’s office and shown the day planner which contained knives, lighters, and a cigarette. Redding admitted that the planner was hers, but denied ownership of any of the items in the planner which she had previously lent to Glines. The assistant principal then showed Redding the pills, asked her if she knew anything about them, and informed her that he had received a report that she was giving these pills to other students. Redding denied both knowing where the pills came from and the accusation that they were hers, and agreed to let the school officials search her belongings. A search of Redding’s backpack revealed nothing. At that point, Redding was taken to the school nurse to have her clothes searched for pills. Red-ding was asked to remove her outer clothes, to pull her bra out and to the side and shake it, and to pull out the elastic on her underpants, thus exposing her breasts and pelvic area. No pills were found on Redding.

Under the first prong of T.L.O.’s reasonableness analysis, the Safford Court found that the school officials had reasonable suspicion to justify a search of Redding’s backpack and outer clothing based on Glines’s statement that the pills came from Redding as “sufficiently plausible to warrant suspicion that [Redding] was involved in pill distribution.” Safford, 557 U.S. at 373-74, 129 S.Ct. 2633. The Court reasoned that the information possessed by the assistant principal prior to the search of Redding’s clothes and backpack was sufficient because: (1) Redding’s admission that she had lent Glines her day planner established that the two of them were friends, (2) there were other reports of the girls’ relationship from staff members who had identified them as part of a rowdy group at an earlier school dance during which alcohol and cigarettes were found in the girls’ bathroom, and (3) there was reason to connect the girls with this contraband based on statements by Jordan that he had been to a party at Redding’s house where alcohol was served. Id. at 372, 129 S.Ct. 2633.

With respect to the subsequent strip search, however, the Court found that the school officials lacked reasonable suspicion to search Redding’s underwear where there was no “indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity” and there was no reason to believe that Redding was carrying pills in her underwear. Id. at 376, 129 S.Ct. 2633. Despite the discovery of a handful of pills on Glines, the Supreme Court found that the school officials “had no reason to suspect that large amounts of drugs were being passed around or that individual students were receiving great numbers of pills.” Id. Additionally, there was no evidence of a general practice of students at the school hiding similar contraband in their underwear, neither Jordan nor Glines had suggested that Redding was hiding pills in her underwear, and the preceding strip search of Glines had not panned out. The Court further noted that the school officials had not even attempted to determine when Glines had allegedly received the pills from Redding and that such a failure on their part “weigh[ed] heavily against any reasonable conclusion that [Redding] presently had the pills on her person, much less in her underwear.” Id.

As an initial matter, although Plaintiff does not appear to challenge McDowell’s search of D.H.’s backpack and outer clothing, the Court finds that reasonable suspicion justified those searches. See Safford, 557 U.S. at 373-74, 129 S.Ct. 2633 (“If a student is reasonably suspected of giving out contraband [based on a tip from fellow student], she is reasonably suspected of carrying them on her person and in the carryall that has become an item of student uniform in most places today.”); Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1169-70 (finding search of student’s outer clothing was reasonable given general information available to school official that a student in the class had taken the envelope of money and it was not unreasonable for official to conclude that student was a potential suspect); Rudolph ex rel. Williams v. Lowndes County Bd. of Educ., 242 F.Supp.2d 1107, 1119 (M.D.Ala.2003) (holding that search of student’s pockets along with the other students in his class in cafeteria while drug-sniffing dogs were led through the cafeteria and that no individualized suspicion was necessary where the intrusion was limited in light of the school’s interest in combating drug use). McDowell was aware that his fellow administrator Ratcliff had been informed that seventh grade students were passing drugs around, that marijuana had been found on at least three students prior to his search of D.H., and that D.H. was specifically named as a student who had marijuana. Up to that point in the string of searches, each student that had been identified to the school officials as having marijuana had in fact been found to be in possession of marijuana. The limited intrusive nature' of the searches of D.H.’s backpack, socks, shoes and pant pockets was therefore based on reasonable grounds in light of the administrators’ interest in ridding the school of the use of marijuana on campus.

However, what may constitute reasonable suspicion for a search of a backpack or pockets may fall well short of reasonableness for a strip search. See Redding v. Safford Unified Sch. Dist. No. 1., 531 F.3d 1071, 1081 (9th Cir.2008), aff'd in part, rev’d in part sub nom. Safford Unified Sch. Dist. No. 1 v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364, 129 S.Ct. 2633, 174 L.Ed.2d 354 (2009); Safford, 557 U.S. at 374-377, 129 S.Ct. 2633 (finding circumstances that justified searching student’s backpack and outer clothing did not also justify searching her bra and underwear); Cornfield by Lewis v. Consol. High Sch. Dist., 991 F.2d 1316, 1321 (7th Cir.1993). The question posed by the parties on summary judgment is whether McDowell had the requisite level of suspicion to extend the scope of the search to a search of D.H.’s underwear and genitalia. In analyzing the “reliable knowledge element of reasonable suspicion,” the Safford Court initially looked to its cases on probable cause in fleshing out the knowledge component by reviewing (a) the degree to which known facts imply prohibited conduct, (b) the specificity of the information received, and (c) the reliability of its source. Id. at 370-371, 129 S.Ct. 2633 (citing Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 148, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972), Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 416-417, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969), and Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 114, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964)). The Court acknowledged, however, that “these factors cannot rigidly control [and] that these standards are fluid concepts that take their substantive content from the particular contexts in which they are being assessed.” Id. at 371, 129 S.Ct. 2633. (internal citations and quotations omitted). Safford thus described “the lesser standard for school searches” as requiring “a moderate chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing.” Id. at 371, 129 S.Ct. 2633; see also T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 105 S.Ct. 733 (“Under ordinary circumstances, a search of a student by a teacher or other school official will be ‘justified at its inception’ when there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school.”).

In the context of a strip search, however, Safford held that requiring a middle school student to remove her clothing and pull her underwear away from her body exposing her breasts and pelvic area to some degree “requirefs] distinct elements of justification on the part of school authorities for going beyond a search of outer clothing and belongings.” Id. at 374, 129 S.Ct. 2633. In order to justify the categorically extreme intrusiveness of a strip search, the search as actually conducted must be reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place. Id. at 375, 129 S.Ct. 2633. According to Safford, the content of the suspicion must match the degree of the intrusion. Id. at 375, 129 S.Ct. 2633. Although the reasonableness inquiry established by T.L.O. is analyzed under a two pronged approach, the scope/nature of the search (i.e. a strip search as opposed to a search of personal belongings) bears on the level of suspicion required to justify the search. See id.; see also Phaneuf v. Fraikin, 448 F.3d 591, 596 (2nd Cir.2006) (noting that “the reasonableness of the suspicion is informed by the very intrusive nature of a strip search [ ] requiring for its justification a high level of suspicion”). Thus, the Court in Safford unequivocally announced that

the T.L.O. concern to limit a school search to reasonable scope requires the support of reasonable suspicion of danger or of resort to underwear for hiding evidence of wrongdoing before a search can reasonably make the quantum leap from outer clothes and backpacks to exposure of intimate parts. The meaning of such a search, and the degradation its subject may reasonably feel, place a search that intrusive in a category of its own demanding its own specific suspicions.

Id. at 377, 129 S.Ct. 2633.

McDowell’s expanded search of D.H.—-requiring him to remove his pants and underwear—therefore, “demands its own specific suspicions.” Safford 557 U.S. at 364, 129 S.Ct. 2633; Phaneuf, 448 F.3d at 597 (quoting Seventh Circuit’s decision in Cornfield and noting that “as the intrusiveness of the search of a student intensifies, so too does the standard of Fourth Amendment reasonableness”). The Court must examine the totality of the circumstances surrounding the search to determine whether reasonable and individualized suspicion existed for McDowell to subject D.H. to a strip search in light of the facts known to him prior to the search. See T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 341, 105 S.Ct. 733; Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1166 (citing T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 341, 105 S.Ct. 733); Foster v. Raspberry, 652 F.Supp.2d 1342, 1348-49 (N.D.Ga.2009) (“The standard for determining the validity of a search by school officials is the ‘reasonableness, under all the circumstances, of the search.’ ”)

McDowell points to four factors he contends created the reasonable suspicion required to justify his strip search of D.H.: (1) the fact that all three students previously identified had been found to be in possession of marijuana, (2) one of those students had stashed marijuana in his underwear, (3) D.H. had been specifically identified by (at least) one of those students to also have been found with marijuana on him, and (4) the dangerous nature of marijuana presence in a school with elementary grade levels located in the same building. The Court examines each of these bases in turn.

First, the fact that other students were found with marijuana amounts to generalized suspicion and does not alone justify strip searching D.H. See Safford, 557 U.S. at 374-377, 129 S.Ct. 2633 (finding strip search unreasonable after pills were found on plaintiffs classmate who identified plaintiff as giving her the pills); Thomas, 261 F.3d at 1169 (holding that strip search of student must be based on individualized as opposed to generalized reasonable suspicion).

Second, questions s