Junior was handcuffed and arrested for allegedly making a threat. His family agreed to a settlement in their lawsuit against his school.
A Tennessee School Expelled a 12-Year-Old for a Social Post. Experts Say It Didn’t Properly Assess If He Made a Threat.
The way school officials handled his case also exposes glaring contradictions in two recent state laws that aim to criminalize school threats and require schools to expel students who make them — with minimal transparency or accountability.
First came the warning signs. Then a teen opened fire on a Nashville school.
Tennessee authorities were alerted to Solomon Henderson’s threatening and violent behavior long before he brought a gun to Antioch High School. It’s unclear how many red flags were heeded.
How many students have been expelled under Tennessee’s school threats law? There’s no clear answer.
When a mother in Tennessee reached out to ProPublica last year to share that her 10-year-old had been kicked out of school for making a finger gun, she wondered how many other kids had experienced the same thing.
Two Families Sue After 11-Year-Old and 13-Year-Old Students Were Arrested Under Tennessee’s School Threat Law
The lawsuits, filed in federal court this month, argue East Tennessee school officials violated students’ rights by calling the police on them under Tennessee’s threats of mass violence law.
A 13-year-old with autism got arrested after his backpack sparked fear. Only his stuffed bunny was inside.
Disability rights advocates said kids like Ty should not be getting arrested under Tennessee’s school threats law. And they tried to push for a broader exception for kids with other kinds of disabilities. It didn’t work.
An 11-year-old denied making a threat and was allowed to return to school. Tennessee police arrested him anyway.
Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a series of increasingly punitive laws aimed not only at preventing future violence but dissuading kids from making threats that disrupt school and terrify other students.
A 10-Year-Old Pointed a Finger Gun. The Principal Kicked Him Out of His Tennessee School for a Year.
Over the last couple of years, Tennessee and several other states have been making it easier for schools to suspend or expel students. But study after study has shown that harsh disciplinary practices such as mandatory expulsions are ineffective at reducing violence in schools.
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