Students caught with weapons still have education options

By Jean Reid Norman

Saturday, April 4, 2009 | midnight

Federal law requires the student who brought an unloaded .357 Magnum to Cimarron-Memorial High School to be expelled, but that does not mean the student’s high school career is over.

The 16-year-old was arrested at Cimarron-Memorial, 2301 N. Tenaya Way, on Wednesday after carrying an unloaded .357 magnum onto campus. He faces charges of carrying an unregistered firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, a minor in possession of a firearm and possession of a dangerous weapon on school property, Clark County school police said.

The Clark County School District’s discipline policy provides that students who bring weapons of any sort to school be sent to one of the district’s three continuation or five behavior schools for the year of expulsion.

After that punishment has been completed, the students who had weapons other than real guns, such as BB guns or knives, may apply to go to another regular high school, Associate Superintendent Edward Goldman said.

The Cimarron-Memorial incident was the 11th case of a student bringing a real weapon onto campus this year, Clark County School District police Capt. Jim Ketsaa said. Last year, there were 19 such cases through the end of the school year, Goldman said.

Overall, the School District projects it will have 5,330 cases in which a student is recommended for expulsion for various reasons, from weapons, when the law requires it, to fighting, where the principal may have a choice, Goldman said.

The district’s discipline policy is not just what is good for the students, who should continue their education, Goldman said.

“It’s not a good idea to put them on the street,” Goldman said. “They’ll burglarize your home and mine. They’ll hang around the elementary and middle schools and malls and cause problems.”

The continuation and behavior schools each have only 150 to 200 students, compared to 2,000 to 3,000 at comprehensive high schools, Goldman said.

“We keep them in a smaller setting, where we can keep an eye on them,” he said. “At least here, they are in a structured environment. We don’t want to guarantee ninth grade dropouts.”

Goldman said his department sees a recidivism rate of about 22 percent among students who go through the expulsion process.

“That means there are 78 percent we never see again,” he said. “Some may drop out, but I don’t think that’s a bad record at all.”

The number of referrals for student explusions that reach Goldman’s office has increased steadily over the past 10 years, from 558 in the 1998-99 school year to the current 5,330. Some of that reflects the explosive growth of the School District, but Goldman said sometimes principals just need to send a message.

“I had a principal at the beginning of this school year tell me that I would be seeing more referrals for fights, because he had too many lately and had to send a message.

“The message is, Do this, and you ain’t coming back here,” Goldman said.

He said student behavior reflects society, but noted that he did not know of any incident in which a gun that was brought on campus was used in a shooting.

Generally, he said, if someone wants to harm a school student, it will happen off campus.

“They’re afraid of getting caught on campus,” he said.

In fact, Ketsaa said, students are more likely now than in past years to tell an adult when they suspect a fellow student has a weapon.

“Kids are reporting more things, getting more involved,” he said.

Goldman agreed.

Students are “afraid of being in class with someone who has a gun,” he said.

Ketsaa said schools are safer than ever, because school police, local law enforcement and parents all work together better than before.

“The reality is schools are safe,” he said. “We have a good handle on it.”

Correction: This story was changed to correct that only students who didn't bring real guns to school can apply to return to a normal high school.