CAMPBELL MIDDLE SCHOOL Plastic air pistols bring expulsions for 2

No weapon was fired inside the school nor was any live ammunition found.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CAMPBELL -- Two Campbell Middle School pupils have been expelled for bringing plastic air pistols to school during the past few two months.
Schools Superintendent Thomas Robey would not identify the pupils by name, age or grade. He did say, however, they are pupils at the middle school, which houses grades five through eight.
The schoolchildren were initially suspended for 10 days, and then had hearings, at which Robey said he, building administrators and the children's parents were present.
He said one pupil, who brought an unloaded air pistol (a pellet gun that fires plastic BBs) to school on May 7, was expelled until Jan. 1, 2008, at the pupil's May 10 hearing.
Robey said school officials learned of the situation when a teacher told the building principal that there might be a gun in the school. The principal dealt with the situation. The child was cooperative, and the parents were called. The child was removed from school, and the gun was seized, the superintendent said.
In another incident, which occurred March 1, an air pistol was found outside the school building and traced to a pupil. At a hearing March 15, that pupil was expelled for 20 days and was eligible to return to school April 16, Robey said.
The superintendent did not provide information about where the guns were found. He said, however, no weapon was fired inside the school nor was any live ammunition found, as has been rumored in the community.
He said the incidents were handled internally by school officials, and the school was not locked down.
Campbell police said they were not immediately aware of the situations.
alcorn@vindy.com