How do I query multiple tables for a single instance of a foreign key?

[0degreesK]

I have a table that contains the schools in my system:

 

schools

id

name

location

...

 

Then, I have three tables that use the id of this table:

 

schoolAdmins

schoolID

 

schoolContests

schoolID

 

students

schoolID

 

When I go to delete a school from my system, I want to check to see if that school is connected to any of these three other tables first.  This is what I tried (but obviously failed because I'm here) where I'm passing the query the $studentID in question:

 

SELECT * FROM schoolAdmins, schoolContests, students WHERE (schoolAdmins.schoolID = $schoolID) OR (schoolContests.schoolID = $schoolID) OR (students.schoolID = $schoolID)

 

I'm really new to the concept of querying multiple tables in a single statement, so I'm just kind of guessing at this point.  Thanks in advance.

 

[amof]

Read your post wrong...