Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 14, 1995 TAG: 9510170045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
After a three-hour, closed-door meeting, the board voted 6-2 to expel the boy. One member, David Moore, was not present for the special session.
The boy's mother, who asked that her family not be identified, wiped tears from her eyes after the vote was taken. She said she understood that her son needed to be punished but a year's expulsion was too severe for an 11-year-old.
"I'm not making excuses for him - a gun is a gun. ... But the people on that board were 11 once; they made mistakes," she said.
On Sept. 26, the boy took the gun to school hidden in his backpack. He said was going to return it to a friend after fixing a broken spring loader. The gun, a Marksman air-loader that looks similar to a real gun, was not loaded.
The boy said the gun was hanging out of his unzipped backpack and several pupils saw it. Another fifth-grader said he pushed the gun back into the bag, then reported it to the principal the following day.
All three boys - the one who brought the gun, the owner and the one who touched it - were suspended for 10 days while parents and administrators met to talk about the incident.
The boy who only touched the gun will be back at school next week, after the 10-day suspension is over.
That boy's grandmother, Kay Huff, said the punishment had upset her entire family.
Her grandson "felt so guilty and sad at church Sunday, he didn't even stay for Sunday school. And he always stays," she said.
Huff said she worries that such extreme punishments set a bad example for other children. They may think twice before telling a principal that they saw a gun if they fear they might be suspended, she said.
The mother of the expelled boy said the board was using her son to set an example for other pupils who might consider bringing a weapon to school.
Last spring, the General Assembly passed a law that requires school systems to expel for an entire year any student who brings a weapon to school. The definition of weapon - which is listed in the code of conduct - includes everything from pistols to slingshots.
The boy who was expelled said he knew about the policy, and thought once that perhaps he shouldn't bring the gun to school. He said he's learned his lesson now, and doesn't want to touch another BB gun for a long time.
His mother said she had no idea he had the gun.
"I hate guns. We don't have one in the house."
The boy said he likes to play with other kinds of weapons, such as a bow and arrow. Last year, he brought a ninja star replica, which has sharp points, to school for show and tell. The teacher told him not to bring it again because it could hurt someone.
Because he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the school system is required under federal law to provide home-schooling for the boy. Had the administration determined that the violation was a result of his disability, they could not have expelled him.
The boy said he wouldn't miss school much, but he would miss his friends.
"It's not going to be vacation," his mother warned. In the four days since he's been out of school, "he's been writing sentences and moving bricks and digging ditches. And he hasn't complained at all, because he knows what he did."
The gun's owner, who also has a learning disability, may face the same fate in a few weeks. Administrators first must determine whether his involvement in the incident was related to his disability.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.