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Schoolchildren Strip-Searched for Lost $5

Fri Mar 22, 8:13 AM ET

KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - A school principal and a teacher were ordered to stay home from school on Thursday after a class of third graders were strip-searched when $5 in lunch money disappeared.

The money did not turn up in Monday's search of the 26 students, who were between 8 and 9 years of age.

"There was a strip search. The kids were asked to take off their clothes. The female teacher searched the girls and the male teacher the boys," Kansas City School District spokesman Edwin Birch said.

Pitcher Elementary School Principal Jana Schwimmer and an unnamed teacher were ordered to stay away from work, though not officially suspended, pending an investigation of the incident, Birch said. It was not clear why both teachers were not removed.

Under Missouri rules, schoolchildren can be ordered to empty their pockets but not strip-searched.