OXFORD — SAD 17 Superintendent Rick Colpitts told the school board last week  that administrators are restricted when it comes to expelling a student accused of or convicted of a crime.

At the Nov. 18  board meeting, Director Faith Gittings of Oxford said she had concerns about two Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School students who are charged in an armed robbery and have attended school while awaiting court action.

“How is this possible?” Gittings asked. “I’m so upset by this. These kids brandished a weapon in a public place.”

No details were given about the incident or the students involved.

Gittings told the board that a student she knew said fellow students were afraid of one of the accused students being in their classroom.

“Was it a real gun? They’re scared. They’re talking among themselves,” Gittings said.

Colpitts said the district is aware of the situation but he could not comment directly about the case.

In general, he said, a school district can deny access to a free and appropriate education through long-term suspension and expulsion but only under certain conditions.

“Both require due process, hearings and impartial ruling,” Colpitts said.

School officials must meet a standard to take that action, he said. They must conclude that the student’s actions or presence “disrupted the peace and usefulness of the school, making it extremely difficult for other students to access their right to a public education,” he said.

Usually, he said, this requires the incident in question be directly related to the school to have that level of impact.

Some things, like student-on-student Internet bullying or a history of threat or intimidation by a student on other students may impact school, even if it occurred off school grounds. “This is rare,” he said.

Colpitts conceded the incident in question might cause some “talk or gossip” within the school and that sometimes there might be some “uneasiness” about a student awaiting a court date, but that “talk” or “uneasiness” does not usually lead to a suspension or expulsion.

Colpittss said if a student is convicted of a crime but not sentenced to serve jail time, he or she is not automatically expelled from school, either.

“The same standards for expulsion remain in place. Has the student’s actions or presence disrupted the peace and usefulness of the school, making it extremely difficult for other students to access their right to a public education?” he said.

If administration believes the student’s crimes have an impact on the student body, they would recommend an expulsion hearing, Colpitts said. The school board would have to provide due process, hold an expulsion hearing and rule on whether the student’s actions have “disrupted the peace and usefulness of the school.”

While Colpitts said he belieives there are students in SAD 17 who have been convicted of crimes, most of those cases haven’t risen to the level of expulsion.

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