Whether or not you have the right to have an attorney present during questioning by school officials depends on the circumstances of your particular case. In most states, school officials who stand in place of your parents while you are at school have the right to question you concerning violations of school policy and during this questioning, you do not have the right to invoke your Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
However, when law enforcement authorities or their agents are questioning you and you are in official custody, you do have the right to remain silent and to request counsel before questioning takes place. With respect to interrogations conducted by school officials, the key issues are first, whether or not the school officials are acting as agents of the police, and second, whether the student is actually in official custody at the time of the questioning.
Do I have the right to remain silent during questioning by school officials? Courts will generally look to the totality of the circumstances to determine if a school official is acting as an agent of the police. A principal alone in his office with a student he is questioning concerning drugs is not acting as an agent of police. However, school police who while on school property have the same powers under the law as municipal police do must give Miranda warnings to students before they undergo questioning.
How can I tell if I am in official custody, and therefore have the right to remain silent during questioning? The same totality of the circumstances test is used to determine if a student undergoing questioning by school officials is in the kind of "custody" that will trigger Fifth Amendment protections. To determine whether or not a student is in custody at the time of the questioning, the courts will look to factors such as how the police, their agents, or school officials summoned the child, the purpose of the questioning, where it took place and whether the student free to leave at any time. Looking at all the facts of the case, if a child is found to be in custody, then he is protected during questioning by the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.