Kids Strip-Searched To Find Missing $20

Twenty-three third-graders were strip-searched by a teacher and crossing guard looking for about $20 a pupil had reported missing.

The children were taken into closets one by one and told to drop their pants, Union County Prosecutor Andrew K. Ruotolo Jr. said Saturday.

The female crossing guard examined the girls while the male teacher examined the boys, he said.

Ruotolo is investigating the search at Jefferson School but said charges were unlikely.

Principal Evelyn Baker was suspended for a week, and the school board did not renew her contract at Monday’s meeting.

Ruotolo didn’t know if the money was recovered.