A. School principals may suspend from school any student, including an exceptional student, for good cause in accordance with state law and local policy. B. Students determined to be guilty of the following offenses may be suspended for the following reasons: 11. possessing firearms, knives, or other implements that can be used as weapons.

A. Students may be expelled for any of the following reasons: 4. any student found guilty of being in possession of a firearm on school property or on a school bus or at a school sponsored event shall be expelled from school according to the requirements of R.S. 17:416(C)(2).

B. Any student who has been expelled from any public or nonpublic school within or outside the state of Louisiana for one of the reasons listed below shall produce documentation that he or she and his/her parent or legal guardian have enrolled in and participated in an appropriate rehabilitation or counseling program related to the reason(s) for the expulsion prior to being admitted or readmitted on a probationary basis to any public school in the state, unless such requirement is waived by the LEA:

1. possessing on school property or on a school bus a firearm, knife, or other dangerous weapon, or instrumentality customarily used or intended for probable use as a dangerous weapon; or
2. possessing with intent to distribute, or distributing, selling, giving, or loaning while on school property or on a school bus any controlled dangerous substance governed by the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law.

A. Carrying a firearm, or dangerous weapon as defined in R.S. 14:2, by a student or nonstudent on school property, at a school sponsored function, or in a firearm-free zone is unlawful and shall be defined as possession of any firearm or dangerous weapon, on one’s person, at any time while on a school campus, on school transportation, or at any school sponsored function in a specific designated area including but not limited to athletic competitions, dances, parties, or any extracurricular activities, or within one thousand feet of any school campus. B. For purposes of this Section, the following words have the following meanings: (1) “Campus” means all facilities and property within the boundary of the school property. (2) “Nonstudent” means any person not registered and enrolled in that school or a suspended student who does not have permission to be on the school campus. (3) “School” means any elementary, secondary, high school, vocational-technical school, college, or university in this state. (4) “School bus” means any motor bus being used to transport children to and from school or in connection with school activities. ... D. (1) Whoever commits the crime of carrying a firearm, or a dangerous weapon as defined in R.S. 14:2, by a student or nonstudent on school property, at a school-sponsored function, or in a firearm-free zone shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not more than five years. (2) Whoever commits the crime of carrying a firearm, or a dangerous weapon as defined in R.S. 14:2, on school property or in a firearm-free zone with the firearm or dangerous weapon being used in the commission of a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) on school property or in a firearm-free zone, shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than one year nor more than five years, or both. Any sentence issued pursuant to the provisions of this Paragraph and any sentence issued pursuant to a violation of a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) shall be served consecutively. Upon commitment to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections after conviction for a crime committed on school property, at a school-sponsored function or in a firearm-free zone, the department shall have the offender evaluated through appropriate examinations or tests conducted under the supervision of the department. Such evaluation shall be made within thirty days of the order of commitment. E. Lack of knowledge that the prohibited act occurred on or within one thousand feet of school property shall not be a defense. F. (1) School officials shall notify all students and parents of the impact of this legislation and shall post notices of the impact of this Section at each major point of entry to the school. These notices shall be maintained as permanent notices. (2) (a) If a student is detained by the principal or other school official for violation of this Section or the school principal or other school official confiscates or seizes a firearm or concealed weapon from a student while upon school property, at a school function, or on a school bus, the principal or other school official in charge at the time of the detention or seizure shall immediately report the detention or seizure to the police department or sheriff’s department where the school is located and shall deliver any firearm or weapon seized to that agency. (b) The confiscated weapon shall be disposed of or destroyed as provided by law. (3) If a student is detained pursuant to Paragraph (2) of this Subsection for carrying a concealed weapon on campus, the principal shall immediately notify the student’s parents. (4) If a person is arrested for carrying a concealed weapon on campus by a university or college police officer, the weapon shall be given to the sheriff, chief of police, or other officer to whom custody of the arrested person is transferred as provided by R.S. 17:1805(B). G. Any principal or school official in charge who fails to report the detention of a student or the seizure of a firearm or concealed weapon to a law enforcement agency as required by Paragraph (F)(2) of this Section within seventy-two hours of notice of the detention or seizure may be issued a misdemeanor summons for a violation hereof and may be fined not more than five hundred dollars or sentenced to not more than forty hours of community service, or both. Upon successful completion of the community service or payment of the fine, or both, the arrest and conviction shall be set aside as provided for in Code of Criminal Procedure Article 894(B).

(2) (a) (i) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection B of this Section, any student sixteen years of age or older found guilty of being in possession of a firearm on school property, on a school bus, or in actual possession at a school-sponsored event, pursuant to a hearing as provided for by Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, shall be expelled from school for a minimum period of four complete school semesters and shall be referred to the district attorney for appropriate action. However, the superintendent of a city, parish, or other local public school system may modify the length of such minimum expulsion requirement on a case-by-case basis, provided such modification is in writing. " (c) (i) Any case involving a student in kindergarten through grade five found guilty of being in possession of a firearm on school property, on a school bus, or in actual possession at a school sponsored event, pursuant to a hearing as provided for by Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, shall be expelled from school for a minimum period of two complete school semesters and shall be referred to the district attorney for appropriate action. However, the superintendent of a city, parish, or other local public school system may modify the length of such minimum expulsion requirement on a case-by-case basis, provided such modification is in writing. (d)(i) Any student expelled from school may be readmitted on a probationary basis to school at any time during the specified period of expulsion on such terms and conditions as may be stipulated by the city, parish, or other local public school board and agreed to in writing by the student and by the student’s parent or other person responsible for the student’s school attendance. Such terms and conditions may include but need not be limited to placing the student in a suitable alternative education program as determined by the school board. However, any such written agreement shall include a provision that upon the school principal or superintendent of schools making a determination that the student has violated any term or condition agreed to, the student shall be immediately removed from the school premises without the benefit of any hearing or other procedure applicable to student suspensions and expulsions. As soon thereafter as possible, the principal or his designee shall provide verbal notice to the superintendent of schools of any such determination and also shall attempt to provide such verbal notice to the student’s parent or other person responsible for the student’s school attendance. The principal or his designee also shall provide written notice of the determination and the reasons therefor to the superintendent and to the student’s parent or other responsible person.