Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411020076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"At some point, it becomes a community problem because the youths get the guns at home or in the community," Harris said. "As long as juveniles have access to guns, there is only so much that we can do."
A year ago, the school system rewrote its disciplinary code to make it clear that students who brought drugs or guns and other weapons to school would face expulsion.
School principals held assemblies to remind students of the penalties for having guns on school property. They asked parents to sign pledges that they would help discipline their children.
To make sure students and parents understood that the school system was serious, the School Board has expelled 10 students in the past year, mostly for gun possession.
"We felt like we had a policy that was clear, tough, and we showed it was going to be enforced," Harris said.
School Board members believed they had done about as much as they could, short of requiring students to pass through metal detectors or be searched daily.
But the problem hasn't disappeared.
Less than two months into the new school year, a 10-year-old boy brought a gun to Monterey Elementary School. No one was threatened or injured.
Police confiscated the weapon, and the boy was suspended. Under the city's policy, school administrators can recommend expulsion for weapon possession, but the School Board makes the decision.
The boy is believed to be the youngest child to have brought a gun to school. The boy told police the gun was his father's .
Harris said he doesn't recall a gun previously having been confiscated from an elementary school pupil. Most of the students expelled last year were 14 or 15, although two or three were in middle schools, he said.
Expulsion is defined as the permanent exclusion of students from city schools, including adult and GED programs. Expelled students can apply for some alternative schooling, such as home instruction.
The school system's tough stance on weapons is in keeping with a new federal law and recent presidential executive order requiring school districts to expel for at least one year any student who brings a gun to school. Federal funding is to be terminated for states that don't force school divisions to comply.
"Young people simply should not have to live in fear of young criminals who carry guns to school," President Clinton said after signing the order. "We cannot operate in a country where children are afraid."
In Roanoke, Harris said, the School Board has to deal with the gun possessions on a case-by-case basis.
"The decisions are tough sometimes. The board wants to be concerned about the student's future, but we want to be firm about the safety of the other students," Harris said.
In the cases last year, the board thought the students were responsible for their actions. Harris said he's not sure the board will have the same attitude about the 10-year-old.
"The dynamics of this case could be different," he said.
In addition to home instruction, Harris said, one other option for expelled students is the city's expanded and revamped alternative education program.
Alternative education will be moved to Valley Court, a former shopping center near Interstate 581 and Hershberger Road. Roanoke hopes to get up to $1.5 million to help pay for technology labs and other instructional equipment.
by CNB