By Rebecca Gaunt

On Tuesday, the state’s Court of Appeals denied the Cobb County School District’s appeal to uphold the expulsion of a middle school student who used his school-issued device to warn a friend about a shooting threat in the days after the September 2024 mass shooting at Apalachee High School.

The student, referred to as G.D. in court documents, was receiving special education services at Campbell Middle School due to his autism. He was expelled in October 2024, a decision that was upheld by the Cobb County Board of Education. The Southern Poverty Law Center has been representing G.D. in the family’s efforts to overturn the expulsion.

According to court documents, G.D. said a student in his first-period class showed him a video that contained a threat to shoot up the schools at lunchtime. The threat was against Campbell Middle, the friend’s school, and G.D.’s sister’s school. Screenshots of his chat circulated online, causing panic in the community.

A statement from the school resource officer who handled the matter said, “[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.”

Read more here: Cobb eighth grader expelled for warning friend of shooting threat

G.D. 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, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Robert Leonard II reversed the expulsion saying he found no evidence that G.D. intended to cause a disruption when he sent the messages, and that the board had misconstrued the language of the rule.

The school district unsuccessfully filed to appeal Leonard’s ruling.

“We are grateful the Georgia Court of Appeals swiftly recognized that this case never warranted its consideration, unlike the Cobb County Board of Education, which chose to waste additional public resources to further punish and traumatize a middle school student who never should have been expelled,” said Mike Tafelski, interim deputy legal director, SPLC. “Instead of recognizing G.D.’s responsible and courageous actions, the District chose to continue wasting taxpayer dollars chasing an unlawful and illogical appeal of a proper ruling.

“This decision brings a long-overdue close to a traumatic year for G.D. and his family, who are ready to put this case behind them and look ahead to a fresh start in 2026,” Tafelski said.

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.