By Rebecca Gaunt

As a result of an emergency hearing in Cobb County Superior Court Wednesday, one student who had planned to join his peers Thursday for the first day of school is now sitting at home.

In response to the July 17 decision by the state board of education to reverse the student’s 2023 expulsion, the Cobb County School District filed a motion on July 22 to prevent K.B. [not named due to being a minor] from returning to North Cobb High School, calling him a potential danger to staff and students.

The state board overturned the expulsion after finding that Cobb’s off-campus behavior policy “is contrary to law because it exceeds the jurisdiction given to it under state law.”

 K.B., who was 16 at the time, was also referred to juvenile court, but the charges were dismissed and his record sealed.

A hearing will be scheduled for a judge to consider the district’s request to overturn the state’s decision. In the meantime, he is not allowed on any school campus.

The incident

K.B. was expelled after an incident in which North Cobb High School resource officer Nina Daniels and athletic director Matt Williams confronted him in an off-campus parking lot on Aug. 25, 2023. 

His family had an agreement with the nearby barber shop that he could park there during school. On this particular morning, after he backed into the parking spot, Daniels and Williams appeared in front of him, with her car partially blocking him in. According to court documents, the SRO and AD accused the student of driving recklessly in the school zone, so they jumped into the SRO’s vehicle and followed him.

Asked to roll down his window, he refused, maneuvered his Dodge Charger out of the spot, and left the scene. He then had a friend pick him up and take him to school, where he was told by the two staff members that he had hit the officer. She did not sustain any injuries.

K.B.’s mother, Christine Brittain, said he denied that he had been speeding or squealing his tires, citing that the typical heavy traffic through the school zone prevented it. He also denied hitting the officer, but admitted to leaving the scene. K.B. did not have a driver’s license at the time, and was driving with a learner’s permit.

During the Nov. 27, 2023 discipline hearing, K.B.’s attorney questioned Daniels about the lack of body cam footage from the morning incident. She said she couldn’t recall if she had pushed the button to activate it, but it hadn’t worked. It was activated by the time K.B. arrived at school.

According to the discipline hearing transcript, K.B. said he didn’t open his window because Daniels had her hand on her gun and he was scared. In audio from the body cam taken when K.B. arrived at school later, Daniels can be heard telling K.B. he was “lucky I stepped away because most rookie officers would’ve stepped in front of that car and shot you on the spot.”

K.B. also stated on the record that he had felt targeted during his time at North Cobb and had been searched more than 30 times to no avail. He also said an employee at the school told him he was on a list of students administrators wanted to remove, and that he had been questioned about expensive items of clothing by staff.

Witnesses from the barber shop, who observed the interaction, said they did not witness him hit the officer, though one heard her make verbal reference to being hit after K.B. drove away.

His mother also told the Courier that two days prior to the incident, K.B. was serving a detention for being tardy, when he received photographs of AD Williams looking into his car windows while he was parked at the barbershop.

K.B. has an IEP and his mom said school is a challenge for him. He also has served multiple detentions and in school suspensions for tardies. But at the time of the incident, he was working with school staff to complete the necessary classes so he could enroll in the Chattahoochee Technical College car mechanic program.

“He was literally going to class and actually engaging every day up until the 25th,” Brittain said.

Brittain said that since they appealed the original decision to kick him out, she was unable to enroll him anywhere else. Once that decision was upheld at the Nov. 27 discipline hearing, he was directed to the Ombudsman Educational Program. He only attended for two days, telling his parents that the unruly environment and computer-based learning without educational supports was not something he could handle. 

The Ombudsman program, with which Cobb schools had a contract to provide alternative education, abruptly shuttered this summer.

Brittain said the new alternative program her son is eligible for just announced the opening has been delayed until Aug. 20.

Cobb’s off-campus behavior policy

At the time of the 2023 incident, the off-campus behavior policy was written as follows:

Off-campus misconduct for which a student shall be disciplined includes, but is not limited to any off-campus conduct that:

• Could result in the student being criminally charged with a felony and is prohibited by the Georgia or United States criminal codes or would be punishable as a felony if committed by an adult; AND
• Makes the student’s continued presence at school a potential danger to persons or property at the school or disrupts the educational process.

At the June 13, 2024 school board meeting, the policy was amended at the recommendation of Darryl York, director of policy and planning. 

“The change you see in front of you simply lines our wording up, word for word, with the state law,” he said. “…It’s not just getting in trouble off campus, but it must be tied with on campus issues as well and their continued attendance would pose a danger at school.” 

The policy now states:

Off-campus misconduct for which a student shall be disciplined includes any off-campus conduct which:

• Could result in the student being criminally charged with a felony; AND
• Makes the student’s continued presence at school a potential danger to persons or property at the school or disrupts the educational process.

Attorney Michael Tafelski said he believes this is not the only case of a student being expelled improperly for off-campus behavior.

“How many kids have been expelled because they didn’t have lawyers?” he asked.

Tafelski filed a response arguing that the district is a non-party and lacks standing to appeal as the K.B. and the local board were the ones named in the state board’s action. Additionally, he wrote, the district abandoned the traditional procedural framework for student discipline appeals to superior court.

Most significantly, Tafelski argued that K.B.’s actions don’t meet the criteria of the expired or current policy or state law.

“He was only accused of a delinquent act in juvenile court – an act that could not have been charged as a criminal felony…and the record is devoid of any evidence – or even allegations – that K.B.’s ongoing presence at school would constitute a danger to others or a disruption to the educational process,” the response states.

K.B.’s mom said he was so happy the day the state board ruled to let him go back to school, that he cried and called his entire family, including his great-grandparents.

“I think watching his cousin graduate this year and one of his friends graduate this year turned a different page for him,” she said.

Cobb County School District spokesperson Nan Kiel declined to comment on the matter.