                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EXPULSION OF STUDENTS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; EXCEPTIONS (§ 22.1-277.07)

A. In compliance with the federal Improving America&#8217;s Schools Act of 1994
(Part F-Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994), a school board shall expel from school
attendance for a period of not less than one year any student whom such school
board has determined, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this
article, to have possessed a firearm on school property or at a school-sponsored
activity as prohibited by &#xA7; 18.2-308.1 or to have possessed a firearm or
destructive device as defined in subsection E, a firearm muffler or firearm
silencer, or a pneumatic gun as defined in subsection E of &#xA7; 15.2-915.4 on
school property or at a school-sponsored activity. A school administrator,
pursuant to school board policy, or a school board may, however, determine,
based on the facts of a particular situation, that special circumstances exist
and no disciplinary action or another disciplinary action or another term of
expulsion is appropriate. A school board may promulgate guidelines for
determining what constitutes special circumstances. In addition, a school board
may, by regulation, authorize the division superintendent or his designee to
conduct a preliminary review of such cases to determine whether a disciplinary
action other than expulsion is appropriate. Such regulations shall ensure that,
if a determination is made that another disciplinary action is appropriate, any
such subsequent disciplinary action is to be taken in accordance with the
procedures set forth in this article. Nothing in this section shall be construed
to require a student&#8217;s expulsion regardless of the facts of the particular
situation.

B. The Board of Education is designated as the state education agency to carry
out the provisions of the federal Improving America&#8217;s Schools Act of 1994
and shall administer the funds to be appropriated to the Commonwealth under this
act.

C. Each school board shall revise its standards of student conduct no later than
three months after the date on which this act becomes effective. Local school
boards requesting moneys apportioned to the Commonwealth through the federal
Improving America&#8217;s Schools Act of 1994 shall submit to the Department of
Education an application requesting such assistance. Applications for assistance
shall include:

   1. Documentation that the local school board has adopted and implemented
   student conduct policies in compliance with this section; and

   2. A description of the circumstances pertaining to expulsions imposed under
   this section, including (i) the schools from which students were expelled
   under this section, (ii) the number of students expelled from each such school
   in the school division during the school year, and (iii) the types of firearms
   involved in the expulsions.

D. No school operating a Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) program
shall prohibit the JROTC program from conducting marksmanship training when such
training is a normal element of such programs. Such programs may include
training in the use of pneumatic guns. The administration of a school operating
a JROTC program shall cooperate with the JROTC staff in implementing such
marksmanship training.

E. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Destructive device&#8221; means (i) any explosive, incendiary, or
poison gas, bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four
ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than
one-quarter ounce, mine, or other similar device; (ii) any weapon, except a
shotgun or a shotgun shell generally recognized as particularly suitable for
sporting purposes, by whatever name known that will, or may be readily converted
to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, and
that has any barrel with a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter that is
homemade or was not made by a duly licensed weapon manufacturer, any fully
automatic firearm, any sawed-off shotgun or sawed-off rifle as defined in &#xA7;
18.2-299 or any firearm prohibited from civilian ownership by federal law; and
(iii) any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting
any device into any destructive device described in this subsection and from
which a destructive device may be readily assembled. &#8220;Destructive
device&#8221; does not include any device that is not designed or redesigned for
use as a weapon, or any device originally designed for use as a weapon and that
is redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic, line-throwing, safety, or
other similar device, nor shall it include any antique firearm as defined in
&#xA7; 18.2-308.2:2.
			&#8220;Firearm&#8221; means any weapon, including a starter gun, that will,
or is designed or may readily be converted to, expel single or multiple
projectiles by the action of an explosion of a combustible material or the frame
or receiver of any such weapon. &#8220;Firearm&#8221; does not include any
pneumatic gun, as defined in subsection E of &#xA7; 15.2-915.4.
			&#8220;One year&#8221; means 365 calendar days as required in federal
regulations.
			&#8220;School property&#8221; means any real property owned or leased by the
school board or any vehicle owned or leased by the school board or operated by
or on behalf of the school board.

F. The exemptions set out in &#xA7;&#xA7; 18.2-308 and 18.2-308.016 regarding
concealed weapons shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the provisions of this
section. The provisions of this section shall not apply to persons who possess
such firearm or firearms or pneumatic guns as a part of the curriculum or other
programs sponsored by the schools in the school division or any organization
permitted by the school to use its premises or to any law-enforcement officer
while engaged in his duties as such.

G. This section shall not be construed to diminish the authority of the Board of
Education or the Governor concerning decisions on whether, or the extent to
which, Virginia shall participate in the federal Improving America&#8217;s
Schools Act of 1994, or to diminish the Governor&#8217;s authority to coordinate
and provide policy direction on official communications between the Commonwealth
and the United States government.

HISTORY: 1995, cc. 724, 801; 1999, cc. 707, 1027; 2000, c. 523, § 22.1-277.01;
2001, cc. 688, 820; 2003, cc. 843, 976; 2004, c. 930; 2006, c. 703; 2013, c.
288; 2014, cc. 109, 312, 765; 2016, c. 257; 2020, cc. 1111, 1112.