Marie Marrow, the drill team member in trouble for having prop guns in her car at Cherokee Trail High School, had an expulsion hearing Thursday that stressed her success, not her slip-up.

The 17-year-old senior was praised by Cherry Creek Schools officials, Parker's mayor and retired military members as a bright, responsible student who simply forgot she left the fake rifles in her Dodge Durango parked at the Aurora campus.

She was bounced out of school Feb. 5. Her attorney expects her to be back in class as early as today.

Morrow ran afoul of a state law that requires expulsion of any student seen with a dangerous weapon on school grounds or at school events unless the student has permission. Dangerous weapons include facsimiles. Her case, a staple on talk radio recently, has prompted calls for changing the law to give schools some discretion.

As for the soft-spoken Morrow, she just wants to put the ordeal behind her. She has set her sights on attending the Merchant Marine Academy.

"I'm so glad this whole thing is almost over," said Morrow, who was slapped with a 10-day suspension. "It's unfortunate this happened to me. I'm really ready to get back to normal and go back to school."

The next step is for an independent hearing officer to issue a written recommendation to Superintendent Mary Chesley. Technically, she has five days from the hearing to make a decision, said Tustin Amole, Cherry Creek Schools spokeswoman.

But Morrow's attorney, Davis Lane, predicts the student's expulsion will be for time served - the time she's already been out of school.

"The vice principal testified to the fact that Marie is an exemplary person and student," said Lane following the morning hearing. "The school security officer said that she has been a dream and there's never been a problem with her."

Lane said that the school district had no alternative but to expel Marrow under the state statute, "which does not allow anyone to use their brain."

"I think it's ridiculous," he said. "The legislature has determined that the kid who goes into a school with an AK-47 and has all kinds of evil motives gets the same punishment as Marie, who accidentally shows up with props for the drill team in her car."

Morrow, who is commander of the Douglas County Young Marines drill team, kept the fake rifles and drill team equipment in her car because the team is practicing after school in preparation for an April 18 competition at the Air Force Academy.

Morrow said she thought it was no big deal because she practices at a private high school in Parker.

Morrow and her mother, Jennifer McGrew, were called to the dean's office after other students reported the wooden props, one wrapped in duct tape, in her SUV.

Talk radio hosts championed Morrow's cause and blasted the state law and school officials, who say their hands are tied by the rigid statute.

"My daughter has a folder full of awards from school and the Marines," McGrew said. "She wants to become a ( member of the) Merchant Marine and command a ship one day. She is a good kid who works hard.

"I was shocked when the school told me she could face expulsion from every school in Colorado for a year. I can see if she was brandishing a gun in school with the intent to scare people. They were just props she uses for drill practice in her car. We just want to make sure this never happens again."

State Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, plans to introduce a bill to give schools more leeway.

He said his bill "is meant to put some common sense guardrails around the zero tolerance policy."

"There shouldn't be a hard- fast rule that you should be expelled if a facsimile gun is found on school ground in cases where there is no intent to harm anyone," Lundberg said.