ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996                  TAG: 9604050111
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER

BOY, 10, EXPELLED AFTER BRINGING BB GUN TO SCHOOL PULASKI FIFTH-GRADER CAN'T RETURN FOR YEAR

A Newbern Elementary School fifth-grader has been expelled for a year because he brought a BB gun onto school property.

The Pulaski County School Board voted unanimously last month to uphold the administration's recommendation for expulsion.

The 10-year-old was suspended after the incident, pending an investigation and its presentation to the School Board.

The decision followed a closed hearing - sometimes very emotional - between the board and family, said Superintendent Bill Asbury.

A BB gun is included under the definition of weapons under the school system's policy, he said.

After more than a decade of having no problems involving weapons on school grounds, Pulaski County officials found a pistol left on a bus by a fourth-grade student in April 1995 and an empty BB gun carried to school by a second-grade student in May. Both students were suspended for the rest of the school year.

Last summer, the board adopted a weapons policy that included an automatic 365-day expulsion when a weapon is brought onto school grounds by a student. School officials told students and notified parents of the policy and that its harsher penalties would be enforced. Several students have been expelled during the current school year. Asbury said the policy was part of an ongoing effort to keep schools safe for both students and teachers.

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