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Trustees outline plan for weapons violations
District leaders explain why they implemented new rules for a new age.

By Cara Froedge

School leaders defended their controversial weapons policy last week after several students were suspended for infractions and other students, parents and community members called for changes.

At a Thursday meeting of Teton County School District Board of Trustees, one parent criticized administrators for how they handled her children and forced her to sign a form saying her son had a weapon on campus. Administrators explained that they adopted the new weapons policy to comply with federal and state laws while they fielded questions from concerned residents and parents.

"Every year, students are expelled for weapon violations in Wyoming schools," said Superintendent of Schools Sandee Oehring this week. "In response to weapons infractions, there is a heightened awareness throughout the state of Wyoming regarding children's safety. Providing a safe learning environment is a top priority for [the district]."

The 1999-2000 report on the Gun-Free Schools Act, the latest report available, found that 16 students were expelled for firearms violations in Wyoming schools.

School leaders would not say how many local weapons violations have occurred in recent years. But one mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there have been incidents as recent as last year, where middle schoolers have brought knives to school and intimidated their peers.

Dissenting voices

The district's weapons policy, adopted in August, prohibits students from possessing and using "deadly weapons" or objects used as deadly weapons at school activities, within school vehicles or on school property. Deadly weapons include firearms; explosive or incendiary material; motorized vehicles; knives with three-inch or longer blades; animals; or other devices, instruments, materials or substances that are used or intended to be used that can kill or injure someone.

"I do not agree with any part of your weapons policy," said Penny Dykes, the mother of a Jackson Hole High School junior suspended for having a pellet gun in his car. "It is worded so that you have described everything in the world as a weapon other than air. Your policy on weapons is a joke."

Dykes scolded district leaders for how they handled her sons and asked that her name be removed from a form she said she was forced to sign.

Dykes, who spoke at the meeting, said her son Jess' car was unfairly searched, her son Justin was treated poorly, and she was forced to sign a form acknowledging that Jess brought a weapon to school. Jess Dykes was suspended Oct. 1 for having a pellet gun in his truck, not an ax as previously reported.

"The present assistant principal, principal and superintendent scare me," Penny Dykes said. "How could they possibly handle a real situation with a dangerous weapon?"

Cars searched

On Oct. 1, Dykes said, Assistant Principal Robert Liebentritt called her to say that Jess violated the weapons policy. She said Jess towed a snowmobile trailer to school that day. While it was parked in the school lot, she said, Liebentritt walked by and noticed two spent shotgun shells on the trailer. Dykes said Liebentritt told her that he looked in the pickup's window and saw two boxes of shells on the seat.

Dykes said Jess was called to the office and asked if he had any other weapons, and he said there was an ax, at which point they decided to search the truck.

"I told Jess to put the ax in the truck instead of in the truck bed because I was afraid it would get stolen, not that I thought it was a weapon and try to hide it," she said. "Jess was going to gather firewood after school."

During a search, school administrators and law enforcement officials also found a .177 pellet pistol, which had no pellets or CO2 cartridge, Dykes said. They also searched Jess' locker, she said.

Dykes said her son Justin, also 16, was called out of class and questioned him about weapons. She said he told administrators he had a shovel and a receiver hitch in his pickup.

"[Liebentritt] said, 'Now listen boy, don't get smart with me, by God, or there will be hell to pay," she said.

Conflicting reports

When the mother arrived at school, she said she was forced to sign a statement saying Jess brought a weapon, the pellet gun, to school before they would release him into her custody.

"I want my signature rescinded from that statement," she said. "I felt like I had to comply with their every wish or they would cause me more trouble."

Dykes claims the vehicle search was unnecessary. She said the law enforcement officer at the school said the shells were not a threat because the shotgun was not present. She said she received the same answer from a U.S. Navy weapons specialist and Wyoming Highway Patrol investigator she consulted.

Jess Dykes was suspended for 10 days, but his punishment was shortened after a district investigation. In order to return to school, he removed 16 items from his truck, his mother said.

Sheriff's Deputy Mark Smith, also the school's resource officer, said Tuesday that part of Dykes' statement is untrue. Although he was present, he was not involved in the actual vehicle search because it was not a law enforcement matter. He said they never discussed the shells being a threat, and administrators did in fact find CO2 with the pellet gun. He also said Liebentritt did not act inappropriately.

Oehring said Tuesday she met with Dykes on Oct. 7 and encouraged her to bring her concerns directly to the school board in a public setting. In addition, Oehring said she and Dykes have agreed to a follow-up meeting to discuss her concerns.

"By law, school officials must search with due diligence when there is a suspected weapon on campus," Oehring said.

Other district officials said they asked for a copy of Dykes' prepared statement and will be investigating its issues and looking into allowing her to remove her name from the form.

District leaders emphasized that a policy has been in place for years but recently refined.

Yet students who have been suspended for infractions say they have kept items considered weapons in cars or on them in past years.

"If they could show up at school [with weapons], then [the policy] wasn't enforced," said Board Chairman Steve Ashley.

He said there have been some recent incidents that warranted revamping the policy. "It's not a big change, but enough little change with big consequences takes a while," he said.

Board attorney Sara Van Genderen said it's important to understand that the district is required by federal and state law to implement and enforce a weapons policy. There are two federal laws regarding weapons on school grounds.

The first, called the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990, made it a crime for anyone to have a gun within 1,000 feet of every school. This includes exceptions for unloaded guns in locked cases or locked racks inside locked vehicles. The statute does not charge school officials with enforcement and does not charge states or local school officials with defining zones.

The second law, called the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, takes the rules a step further and requires that each state receiving federal education funding to pass its own law requiring one-year expulsion of any student who brings a gun onto school property. This law allows states to include an exception for a firearm lawfully stored inside a vehicle. It also allows states to include a provision for a superintendent to modify expulsion on a case-by-case basis. This law requires school districts to adopt a policy of reporting violators to law enforcement or juvenile delinquency authorities.

Wyoming legislators expanded the federal laws and requires a one-year expulsion for possession of a deadly weapon on school property. State law does not include an exception for guns or other weapons locked inside vehicles. It also requires reporting of a violation to the district attorney after an expulsion hearing.

The district took the state's policy further to include a knife with a blade longer than three inches. Other items used as weapons also are prohibited.

"The interesting thing about the [state] deadly weapon definition is that it does not include knife," Van Genderen said. "That's kind of been an issue because we all know a knife can be a very serious deadly weapon."

She said there is a misconception that the district policy is more restrictive than the state's.

Others disagreed.

"This would be true as it relates to firearms, but not true as it relates to knives, Leathermans and other sorts of tools with a sharp edge," said Dave Cunningham, a hunter safety instructor.

School leaders said the policy prohibits students from using many items to threaten and intimidate. If the item isn't included in a list of deadly weapons, it will only be confiscated and returned to a parent.

If used to attack, however, a student would be subject to suspension or expulsion.

"The fist time something happens with something that can be reasonably defined as a weapon, there going to be people crawling all over the district, the board and everyone that should have acted in a reasonable way to hopefully try and foresee that," said Trustee Gary Trauner.

He said the policy is something complex and legal and the board is still wrestling with it.

"Our intention is to comply with state law ... but at the same time put enough flexibility into this process so that the death sentence of a mandatory one year expulsion isn't quite as mandatory as it may sound," Trauner said.

Keith Gingery, Teton County civil attorney, said Tuesday the district has to follow state law.

"The policy is helping define how they are going to do that," he said. He added that it is not local a law enforcement officer's job to enforce a school policy.

After presenting the policy, the board asked the audience for suggestions to improve the rules.

Parent Cathy Conklin said she agrees with the policy and understands the school district has to abide by state law.

"In the wake of Columbine and stuff, that's what all this talk is about," she said. "We do live in a hunting and fishing society and that, too, is a serious situation. I think the main thing to me is just educating and making it well-known this is what has to be done."

She also said she wants to believe that the district is giving students the ability to turn a weapon over if they inadvertently bring it to school.

One student said last week that he turned in his rifle, which he accidentally brought to school after an early-morning hunt, to administrators and still was punished.

Board members responded that is an issue they are still working through. The policy includes a phrase that says the superintendent has discretion over implementation until Oct. 31 to allow for proper notification and training.

Western Wyoming High School Junior Megan Conklin suggested making the rules more equitable by forcing staff to fall in line.

"I think everything should be done in moderation," she said. "I believe it's important that the staff has to be double checked, and people should know that staff should have certain regulations."

Board members said that because of federal laws, staff cannot bring a firearm to school. They are not bound to the policy with other items, however.

Trustee Zia Yasrobi said the board adopted the policy with student safety in mind. He said trustees do not want to kick kids out of school. But if a student infringes another student's right to learn he or she needs to be dealt with, he said.

"How many people have gone to a restaurant door and seen a sign that says 'No shirt, no shoes, no service,'" he said. "You don't have a shirt, you don't have shoes, you don't go eat. There are no ands, ifs or buts about it. You don't bring guns to school. It's not a place to come show your guns off."

He added: "You go to school to learn, not to be closer to your extracurricular activities."

Dave Cunningham, a hunter safety instructor who spoke at a previous meeting, thanked to board for clarifying from where the law came, which they had not done previously.

He said that concerned people should go to the state Legislature to work for change. However, he asked the board to make some provisions to its policy.

"There is a lot of things with a three inch or greater blade that are legitimate tools," he said. "Drop that from your deadly weapons definition. Don't paint yourself into a corner where you are saying an expulsion is mandatory."

He said school leaders should look at how a student uses an object.

"I think that you really need to continue to speak to behavior," he said. "I think you should remain silent when it relates to knives or tools lawfully stored in locked vehicles."

Cunningham said people living in Wyoming are prepared for the elements and it is common to find a shovel, ax, filet knife or a Leatherman in a vehicle, which is now a violation of district policy.

"You have discretion over that one," he said. "You can't hang that one on the state or the feds."

A copy of the weapons policy can be found at www.tcsd.org.

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