The federal government, through the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 (GFSA), required states to enact zero tolerance legislation mandating school districts to expel students automatically for a period of one year if they brought weapons to school. Under threat of losing federal education dollars, states complied. In turn, school districts developed disciplinary policies that reflected state mandates. In Virginia, as in other states, concern has mounted that application of these policies sometimes results in inequitable and nonsensical treatment of children. In this paper, the evolution of zero tolerance policies is traced from their progenitor, the GFSA, to the school district level. Utilizing Virginia as an example for the emergent case law, this article illustrates the debate on zero tolerance consequences among which may deny students access to schooling and ultimately development as reflective members of a democratic society.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, A.T. (2000, January). The status of school discipline and violence. Annual of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 567, 140-156.
2.
Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated § 15-841(B-G). (West 2002).
3.
Ayers, W., Dohrn, B., & Ayers, R. (Eds.). (2001). Zero tolerance: Resisting the drive for punishment in our schools. New York: New Press.
4.
Bowman, D.H. (2002, April 10). Interpretations of “zero tolerance” vary. Education Week. Retrieved November 12, 2002, from www.edweek.org
5.
Bradley, K.P. (2002). Zero tolerance or (in)tolerance policies? Weaponless school violence, due process, and the law of student suspensions and expulsions: An examination of Fuller v. Decatur Public School Board of Education School District. Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, 2002, 159-207.
6.
Cloud, R.C. (2001). Say yes to due process before saying no to weapons. Education Law Reporter, 153, 833-848.
7.
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-106. (West 2002).
8.
Colwell, B., & Schwartz, B.D. (2001). Student handbooks: A significant legal tool for the 21[st] century. Education Law Reporter, 154, 409-416.
9.
County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833 (1998).
10.
Cuesta v. School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, 285 F.3d 962 (11th Cir. 2002).
11.
Dohrn, B. (2001). “Look out, kid/It’s something you did”: Zero tolerance for children. In W. Ayers, B. Dohrn, & R. Ayers (Eds.), Zero tolerance: Resisting the drive for punishment in our schools (pp. 89-113). New York: New Press.
12.
Essex, N. (1999, June). Safeguarding rights, minimizing exposure. Retrieved February 12, 2002, from www.aasa.org/publications/sa/1999_06/essex_htm
13.
Feldman, S. (2000, February). Let’s stay the course. Where we stand. Retrieved December 12, 2002, from www.aft.org/stand/previous/2000/022000.html
14.
Firearms. 18 U.S.C.A. § 921 (4).
15.
Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, 20 U.S.C. §§ 8921-8922 (1995). Reauthorized under the No Child Left Behind Act, 20 U.S.C. § 7151 (West 2001).
16.
Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975).
17.
Haft, W. (2000). More than zero: The cost of zero tolerance and the case for restorative justice in schools. Denver University Law Review, 77, 795.
18.
Henault, C. (2001). Zero tolerance in schools. Journal of Law & Education, 30, 547-553.
19.
Hill, L. (2001). “Zero tolerance” for free speech. Journal of Law & Education, 30, 365-373.
20.
Hinkle, A.B. (2001, June 19). Okay, everybody, listen up: This is a gun. Retrieved February 12, 2002, from www.timesdispatch.com
21.
Insley, A. (2001). Suspending and expelling children from educational opportunity: Time to reevaluate zero tolerance policies. American University Law Review, 50, 1039-1073.
22.
Kaufman, P., Chen, X., Choy, S.P., Chandler, K.A., Chapman, C.D., Rand, M.R., et al. (1998). Indicators of school crime and safety: 1998. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics.
23.
LaVine v. Blaine School District, 257 F.3d 981 (9th Cir. 2001).
24.
J.S. ex rel. H.S. v. Bethlehem Area Sch. Dist., 807 A.2d 847 (Pa. 2002).
25.
Levick, M.L. (2000, June). Zero tolerance: Mandatory sentencing meets one-room schoolhouse. Kentucky Children’s Rights Journal, 2-6.
26.
Lovell By and Through Lovell v. Poway Unified School District, 90 F.3d 367 (9th Cir. 1996).
27.
Lyons v. Penn Hills Sch. Dist., 723 A.2d 1073 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1999).
28.
Martin, R.C. (2001, February). Final report, bipartisan working group on youth violence, 106th Congress, February 2000. Retrieved February 12, 2002, from www.jlc.org/home/updates/updates_links/report_youthviolence.htm
29.
McKinney, P.R. (2001). On the school board’s hit list: Community involvement in protection the First and Fourth Amendment rights of public school students. Hastings Law Journal, 52, 1323-1368.
30.
McNeely, C.A., Nonemaker, J.M., & Blum, R.W. (2002, April). Promoting school connectedness: Evidence from the national longitudinal study of adolescent health. Journal of School Health, 72(4), 138-146.
31.
Mitchell v. Bd. of Trustees of Oxford Municipal Separate Sch. Dist., 625 F.2d 660 (1980).
32.
New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985).
33.
Opportunities suspended: The devastating consequences of zero tolerance and school discipline. (2000, June). Civil rights project. Retrieved November 11, 2002, from www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/discipline/call_opport.php
34.
Peden, J. (2001, Spring). Through a glass darkly: Educating with zero tolerance. Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy, 10, 369-389.
35.
Possession of weapons prohibited. Pennsylvania Statute § 24-13-1317.2(a-f). (West, 2003).
36.
Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982).
37.
Ratner v. Loudoun County Public Schools, 16 Fed. Appx. 140, 2001 WL855606 (4th Cir. 2001).
38.
School district; policy regarding firearms; requirements. Nebraska Revised Statutes § 79-263. (West 2003).
39.
Seal v. Morgan, 229 F.3d 567 (6th Cir. 2000).
40.
Skiba, R., & Peterson, R. (1999, January). The dark side of zero tolerance: Can punishment lead to safe schools? Phi Delta Kappan, 80(5), 372-376, 381-382.
41.
Smartt v. Clifton, 1997 WL 1774874 (S.D. Ohio 1997).
42.
Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Community Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969).
43.
U.S. Dept. of Education. (1998). Violence and discipline problems in the U.S. public schools: 1996-97. Retrieved February 20, 2002, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/violence/98030008.html#Zero
44.
Virginia Statutes Annotated § 18.2-308.1; § 22.1-270.6; § 22.1-277.07(A); § 22.1-277.08; § 22.1-279.3 (West 2002).
45.
Wasser, J. (1999, Fall). Note: Zeroing in on zero tolerance. Journal of Law & Politics, 15, 747-779.
46.
Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705 (1969).
47.
Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 95 S.Ct. 992 (1975).
48.
Zero Tolerance for Guns Act. New Jersey Statutes Annotated § 18A: 37-7. (West 2003).
