The School District 51 expulsion report is finished, and the numbers from 2024 are big.
Ninety-nine students were expelled from Mesa County Valley School District 51 in 2024, the second most since 2019. The final numbers from June 2025 rival those of the 2022-23 school year, which had 107 total expulsions. Of the 99 expulsions, 49 involved middle school students, 48 involved high school students, and two involved elementary school students, according to D51 Crisis Coordinator Jason Talley
There were 13 total expulsions from Grand Junction High School in 2024, according to Tom Lefebre, the GJHS Dean of Students, which is not the most the school has had.
“If you are expelled from a District 51 school, you go to the District 51 expulsion program. Those students then go to attend another facility in Grand Junction that is run by District 51,” said Lefebre.
When students are expelled, they are not removed from the school system; instead, they are given an alternative education opportunity, such as homeschooling or the alternative learning center. Expelled students may be given the chance to be re-enrolled in the same district, or they may not be given that chance and may have to move to another district, according to Lefebre.
Of all D51 expulsions, 41 were due to felony assault. Felony assault is when someone holds someone else at knife/gunpoint, brandishes weapons, threatens with a weapon, or causes serious bodily harm. 22 of the expulsions due to felony assault were high schoolers, and 19 were middle-schoolers.
“Not all expulsion assaults led to felony criminal charges. In some cases, there may have been no charges filed for the assault; it depends on the victim’s decision to make a report to law enforcement,” said Talley.
A total of 73 expulsions were males and 26 were females. There were five students who were expelled for disobedience and defiance. 20 people were expelled for possession of dangerous weapons like guns, knives, brass knuckles, and explosive objects.
Expulsions due to disobedience or disruption were part of the minority, with only 5 expulsions due to disruptive behavior. Detrimental expulsions were even less, with only 2 cases. Detrimental expulsions are expulsions due to poor behavior and any instances where the student risks harmful effects on others.
“That’s kind of a lot of people that got in trouble for that stuff,” said GJHS junior Keegan Thompson.
