Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994 TAG: 9403240198
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Twenty-two cases of knives on school property have been reported to city police this school year.
One student was expelled this week for bringing a knife to school.
But the disciplinary action against the others with knives has stopped short of expulsion because many involved pocketknives rather than switchblades or large knives.
Lt. J.E. Dean, head of the Police Department's Youth Division, said Wednesday that the number of knives is about the same as in recent years.
"It's not out of proportion to what it has been," he said. "Many of them involved pocketknives."
The School Board also has expelled two students for bringing guns onto school property. Neither the students nor the schools have been identified.
But Dean said he has a record of only one student having had a gun on school property. He said that was a 15-year-old who had a 9 mm gun at the city's Alternative Education Center.
Dean could not explain why he had a record of only one, although two students have been expelled.
Whenever guns or other weapons are brought onto school property, administrators are required to report it to police. They are not required to report pocketknives, Dean said, but they usually do.
Dean said the 22 knife cases are scattered throughout schools in all parts of the city.
"Just about every school has an incident of someone with a pocketknife or other knife," Dean said.
Schools where knives have been reported include Patrick Henry High, Addison Middle, Jackson Middle, Crystal Spring Elementary and Huff Lane Elementary schools.
School Superintendent Wayne Harris said the possession of a pocketknife does not automatically lead to a recommendation for expulsion.
He said the disciplinary action depends on the type of knife and whether a student has used or threatened to use it against someone. A key element is whether the student has used it aggressively, he said.
Administrators will recommend expulsion of students who have switchblades or other large knives, which are banned on school property, Harris said. The School Board makes the final decision on expulsion.
If a student has a pocketknife that falls out of a pocket, and he has not used it in an aggressive manner, Harris said, administrators probably would not recommend expulsion.
But if the student uses the knife in a menacing manner, he said, it could lead to expulsion.
"Our goal is not to expel everyone with a little pocketknife," Harris said. "We have to use our judgment."
Dean said the schools are doing a better job of trying to keep guns and other weapons away from students.
The schools have instituted a policy requiring students who park their cars on school property to allow their cars to be searched.
Drugs and weapons sometimes have been kept in students' cars, Dean said. Under the new policy, the students know their cars can be searched, he said.
by CNB