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The Chattanooga Public Charter School, Tennessee, has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that the family of an 11-year-old boy, who had mistakenly reported a student to police on suspicion of a threat of mass violence.
The incident occurred early in the school year when juniors with autism heard a juniors talk about what they had heard of two students. (We use the nickname to protect his privacy.) As Junior later explained, one person asked if the other was going to shoot school tomorrow. Junior saw the other students. He seemed to say he was going to say yes and replied yes for him. Students then reported that Junior threatened to shoot the school.
Administrators said they could return to school the next day, but a few hours later, the sheriff’s aide followed him at the family’s birthday dinner and handcuffed him in the restaurant’s parking lot.
Propublica and WPLN News wrote the incident last October as a threat of massive violence at schools as part of a massive investigation into Tennessee’s new law.
The 11-year-old refused to denial the threat and was allowed to return to school. The Tennessee State Police arrested him anyway.
According to the settlement, Chattanooga Preparatory Schools also agreed to provide training on how to deal with the threat of mass violence at schools.
The federal judge will hold a final hearing on the settlement on July 1st. According to family lawyers, this is the first known financial settlement in cases that challenge the law. Chattanooga Prep did not immediately respond to requests for comment from news organizations.
Junior’s mother Tori said the settlement was “bittersweet.” He was still terrified when he saw the police car, reminiscing the night he was taken to juvenile detention. To prevent my son from being identified, we use Tori’s name on her request. His case was dismissed in juvenile court in December.
But Tori said she was happy to receive training in ways that school employees can do better in the future.
Junior with his mother, Torri Credit: Andrea Morales for Propublica
“I don’t want any kids, nobody, or parents, anyone who goes through or witnesses it,” she said. “Other children are more protected when they are in such a situation.”
Junior’s lawyers alleged in the lawsuit that the school reported to police as if he had posed a valid threat, but as if he knew that he was not. “Instead of reporting only the effective threat of massive violence against police, Chattanooga Preparation reports all threats to law enforcement, regardless of their effectiveness,” reads an amended version of the lawsuit against the school. The school did not submit a response to the legal complaint.
At the final legislative meeting, advocates for children with disabilities testified on the issue of the law, but lawmakers did not change existing laws. Instead, they added another similar law to the book. It could open the door for children to be charged with more severe penalties.
Family lawyer Justin Gilbert said he hopes the settlement will pay attention to lawmakers and force them to make necessary changes to the law.
“For better or worse, financial figures can be drivers of policy changes, and lawmakers can respond to it. The district can respond to it,” Gilbert said. “As a result, we’ll take a deeper look at the terms of the settlement and what kind of training is needed to ensure that these children are not unnecessarily arrested and expelled.”
