OXFORD – Two students, who were accused of having a loaded 9 mm handgun at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on June 9, have been expelled for one year.
Assistant Superintendent Mark LaRoach said Tuesday that the students were expelled after the SAD 17 Board of Directors held two separate executive sessions at a June 20 meeting. The students already had been suspended for 10 days by the high school, but an expulsion required school board action.
LaRoach pointed out that the board had little choice in the matter.
“If it’s a violation of a federal weapons law, it’s an automatic year,” he said, referring to the “Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994.”
With few exceptions, the act requires states to have laws mandating expulsions “for a period of not less than one year (for) a student who is determined to have brought a weapon to a school.”
LaRoach said he could not give specifics on any expulsion hearings. According to the meeting minutes, one student was expelled by unanimous vote for “the peace and usefulness of the school.” The closed hearing that was held before the vote lasted 32 minutes.
After the next hearing, which lasted 24 minutes, two school board members abstained and two voted against a motion to expel the second student.
According to the minutes, 18 board members were present. The second student also was expelled for “the peace and usefulness of the school.”
The students cannot be identified because they are minors. However, police have said both are 15-year-old males. One is from Norway and the other from West Paris.
According to police and a statement issued by one of the students, one of the boys took a relative’s gun to school to defend himself because he anticipated a fight after he was threatened by a group of non-students
Non-students were on school grounds that day and across the street at a convenience store, police have said.
The student’s friend allegedly tried to leave the school with the gun in his backpack, according to police.
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