LOS ANGELES : Expulsion of Student Who Carried Gun Overturned
The Los Angeles Board of Education made one of its first exceptions to a new policy calling for expulsion of students who carry guns to school, ruling that a 15-year-old honor student caught with a BB gun should be allowed to return to school.
On a 5-2 vote, the board sided with the girl, her parents and attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union, who said the youth found an unloaded, air-powered BB gun on her way to school and intended to turn it over to school authorities. The youth, a Mount Vernon Middle School student with a spotless academic and disciplinary record, was running late and was more concerned about making it to class on time than turning in the air pistol, said Silvia Argueta of the ACLU. School authorities found the air pistol in her gym locker.
She was suspended, sent to a continuation school and not allowed to participate in graduation. She appealed an expulsion order to the board.
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