FOUNTAIN VALLEY : 7th-Grader Expelled for Carrying BB Gun

The Fountain Valley School District Board of Trustees has expelled a seventh-grade student for bringing a BB gun onto campus. The boy was the first student to suffer that fate this school year, district officials said.

District officials said the unloaded handgun looked like a real gun. The boy reportedly brought the gun to school to protect himself, officials said. He was expelled last week.

School board President Catherine Hacker said the boy was barred from attending all schools in the district. He has been placed in a county alternative education program, said Fern Zahlen Williams, the district’s director of student services.

During the 1993-94 school year, 21 students in both regular and special education classes committed expellable offenses, and 12 were expelled, officials said.

Hacker said she believes more awareness about the district’s policy of not tolerating students bringing weapons to school has helped reduce the number of expulsions this year.

“We’re just trying to stick to our policy and keep all our kids as safe as we can,” Hacker said.

At the start of the school year, Williams said, principals visited classrooms and told students of the consequences of bringing weapons to school. They showed students weapons, such as pocketknives and water guns, that are not allowed on campus. Parents were also sent notices about the district’s zero-tolerance weapons policy, Williams said.

In addition, trustees formed a panel of principals to handle expulsion hearings. The panel determines whether to recommend a formal expulsion to trustees.