LEWISTON – When local schools say no guns, they mean no guns.

Two Lewiston Middle School students were expelled indefinitely this week for having AirSoft guns on school property earlier this month, School Superintendent Leon Levesque said Wednesday.

Six other Lewiston students, some from the middle school and some from the high school, were given two- to four-week school suspensions on top of earlier 10-day suspensions, Levesque said.

The disciplinary actions against the eight students – seven boys and one girl – were approved by the Lewiston School Committee Monday and Tuesday nights. Committee members met in executive sessions to hear reports from the school principals and to vote on the action, said Chairman James Handy.

The two expulsions are permanent, Levesque said. By state law, the students have a right to petition for re-entrance.

For any student to be expelled, the behavior has to be “pretty egregious,” he said. “It is the right of all students and faculty to have a safe environment of learning.”

Kicking students out of school permanently is not common, Handy said. “But students have to be held accountable for their actions.” AirSoft guns at school endanger the health and welfare of students and faculty, he said.

“Parents and students need to be put on notice: We allow no guns of any kind – real guns, plastic guns, guns carved out of wood,” Handy said. Not only could students be injured, but the real or replica guns can create panic in what is a climate of school violence fear, he said.

Action against all eight students, including the two expulsions, were made on individual cases and involved the students’ individual histories, Levesque said. While having AirSoft guns on school property may have been what broke the camel’s back, the punishment was not based on one event, Handy said. “What one has to look at is a student’s previous record, discipline and attendance.”

Earlier this month the eight students were given 10-day suspensions after AirSoft guns were fired at two different after-school events, one at the middle school and one at the high school.

Last week more students had AirSoft guns at the high school. The guns were not fired. Those students face disciplinary action from the superintendent and school committee.