ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 28, 1994                   TAG: 9410280061
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

2 SUSPENDED AT GILES HIGH FOR HAVING PISTOL

Two Giles High School students were suspended this week for bringing a pistol to school. The students, whose names and ages are not being released, apparently wanted to trade the pistol or show it to other students.

Assistant Superintendent Jim Wheeler said he did not believe the incident involved violence. "As far as we know, they threatened no one and did not intend to be violent," Wheeler said. "But we are still investigating this matter."

The students brought the gun to school Oct. 19 in a duffel bag, but school administrators were not made aware of the incident until Oct. 21.

School Superintendent Robert McCracken said the boys were put on an automatic 10-day suspension that began Tuesday. A hearing will be held today to decide their fate for the rest of the school year. "The hearing is for long-term suspension," McCracken said Thursday. "Generally a long-term suspension is in lieu of expulsion, but at this point, we don't know all the details yet."

One detail, whether the gun had been stolen from a home, will be discussed at the hearing.

Two years ago in a similar situation, a student at another of the county's schools was suspended when he brought a gun to school.

"In that situation we dealt with one boy, but it was similar in that school just happened to be a convenient place to make the exchange," McCracken said.

The automatic suspension is customary whenever there is a weapons problem - knives, guns or any destructive device - in the schools, Wheeler said.

"We're very concerned about this incident," Wheeler said. "It's not something we take lightly. We just cannot tolerate any type of weapons like this in our schools." 


 by CNB