HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A Henry County middle school student’s suspension has been overturned after the Georgia State of Education determined the local school board’s punishment was too severe.
The girl, who was 12 years old at the time and a student at Austin Middle School, was bullied and sexually harassed by two male classmates on a school bus who accused her of stuffing her bra with tissue. The girl responded by lifting up her shirt, which landed her 180 days of school suspension, her mother said.
Richardson said the two boys involved walked away with no punishment at all.
“These kids openly admitted on the record what they did, and said, ‘we feel like maybe if we wouldn’t have said what we said she wouldn’t have done what she did,’” Richardson recalled. “I was so floored at these little boys, even after admitting this.”
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Richardson’s attorney, Candice McKinley of C. McKinley Law & Associates, said on Tuesday that the girl’s family won their appeal against the Henry County School District, reversing the school board’s decision to suspend her.
“The Department of Education determined that the long-term suspension was unwarranted, and the school board abused their discretion in this case,” McKinley said. “That kind of punishment was not justified with the evidence presented in this case.”
McKinley said the girl, who is now in seventh grade, had no serious behavioral history and the State agreed that her punishment of several months out of school went too far.
Now, the girl will be able to move forward without the glaring suspension on her record. McKinley said the girl was attending an alternative school and her mother is now looking to find another place for her to finish her education.
“I think schools can learn from this that it’s important to do what’s right, when a child tells the truth … don’t throw the book at them,” McKinley said. “This is completely opposite of how schools should be.”
There were no financial settlements in the appeal case, but McKinley said the family is discussing a civil case against Henry County Schools.