The report showed that about 350 elementary school pupils were expelled nationally in 1998-99 for being caught with weapons. Texas leads in expulsions Riley stressed that most of the nation's public schools are safe. But we must keep working together until all schools and communities are free of violence. Several states had just a few expulsions. Vermont and North Dakota each had three expulsions, Rhode Island had four, Hawaii five, Maine six, South Dakota and Delaware nine each and Connecticut 11.
Majority involve high schoolers Nationally, more than half the expulsions occurred in high schools.
A third occurred in junior high schools and 10 percent in elementary schools, the report found. More than half the confiscated weapons were handguns, while at least 12 percent involved rifles or shotguns. Other weapons found in schools included bombs, grenades, starter pistols and rockets. Federal law gives school districts some room to shorten expulsions to less than one year in special cases, such as a diagnosed behavior problem. At least 27 percent of expulsions in 1998-99 were shortened.