By Rebecca Gaunt
The Cobb County School District is pursuing the expulsion of a middle school student who used his school-issued device to warn a friend about a shooting threat, despite the punishment being overturned in Cobb County Superior Court.
The student was expelled for causing a school disruption, however, the language of the rule states that it applies to intentional acts. Upon reviewing the evidence considered by the school board, Judge Robert Leonard II found no evidence that G.D. [as he’s referred to in the court documents] intended to cause a disruption and that the board had misconstrued the language of the rule.
The school board filed an appeal for Leonard’s ruling earlier this month.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is representing G.D. and has filed an opposition to the appeal.
Mike Tafelski, the SPLC’s interim deputy legal director, issued a statement.
“The Superior Court correctly reversed our client’s unlawful expulsion. It is outrageous that the Cobb County Board of Education seeks to appeal this decision when it knows that our client has never been a threat to anyone and has returned to school. Cobb County taxpayers should not have to pay the tab for unnecessary legal expenses that are rooted in stubborn ego and not the law or evidence. Cobb County students need leaders who support them and they should not be expected to retain their own counsel to ensure their right to learn is protected.
“The SPLC will continue to stand with G.D., his family, and the hundreds of children who are unnecessarily suspended and expelled every year by a school district that refuses to prioritize real safety or common sense.”
At the time of the incident, G.D. was an eighth grader receiving special education services at Campbell Middle School. He used Google Chat to send a warning message to his friend at another school about a lunchtime shooting threat a classmate told him about in first period. The threat was against Campbell Middle, the friend’s school, and G.D.’s sister’s school. It was later determined to be a hoax, but screenshots of his chat circulated online, causing panic in the community.
The incident occurred two days after the Sep. 4, 2024, shooting at Appalachee High School in Winder, in which two students and two teachers were killed, and nine others were injured. Georgia schools were overwhelmed with false threats in the days immediately following the shooting.
The school resource officer who handled the matter wrote in her report, “[G.D] was very forthcoming and volunteered to show me the conversation with [redacted] from the beginning. As I read the chat, I found there was no threat to the school district and that the conversation, although inappropriate for school, was not illegal.”
The Cobb County School District has declined to comment for the Courier since 2021, but John Floresta, the district’s strategy and accountability officer, and Post 1 board member Randy Scamihorn defended the decision to pursue punishment to the Marietta Daily Journal.
“Without addressing misbehavior, whether it’s an employee or a student, would only invite further disorder,” Scamihorn told the MDJ.
Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.