Image Credit: Canva
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Recent outcomes in cases involving zero tolerance policies regarding threats of mass violence in schools have some questioning the laws that govern those procedures.
In one recent case, a public charter school in Chattanooga will pay a $100,000 settlement to the family of an 11-year-old boy with autism after filing an inaccurate report against the student, claiming the boy threatened mass violence against the school.
Administrators at Chattanooga Preparatory School reported the student for a threat of mass violence, although they had released the boy to his mother earlier in the day.
According to reports, the boy overheard two students in his class discussing a school shooting. One of those students asked the other if he was planning to “shoot up the school tomorrow.” When the other student appeared as if he was going to say “yes,” the boy preemptively said “yes” for him. Students in the class then reported that the boy had threatened to shoot up the school.
After initially investigating the incident, school administrators sent the boy home for the day and said he could return to school tomorrow. However, they then reported the incident to law enforcement officials, and a police officer arrested the boy later that night at a family birthday dinner.
The boy’s family filed a federal lawsuit against Chattanooga Prep, claiming that the school was in the wrong to report the incident as a credible threat because there was evidence that the “yes” statement was not a serious threat. The school failed to respond to the lawsuit and the charges against the boy were dropped in December.
The settlement was reached earlier this year but was just made public. In addition to the financial settlement, Chattanooga Prep will also provide training to staff members on differentiating between genuine threats and misunderstood statements, particularly in regards to those made by students who have disabilities. They will also work towards understanding how to report only valid threats to police.
In another case in Metro Nashville Public Schools, a 12-year-old boy was expelled after he reposted screenshots of a text message thread that appeared to threaten violence at local schools. He allegedly saw the screenshots online and reposted them to serve as a warning. However, school officials expelled him with little investigation into the incident.
When parents were finally able to meet with administrators months later, school officials placed responsibility for the boy’s expulsion on law enforcement officials. However, they were unable to answer any questions regarding their determination of the validity of the threat.
Despite experts who say the school did not properly follow threat assessment protocol, the school system did not allow the boy to return to school, even after charges against him were dropped.
These incidents highlight potential problems with current Tennessee laws involving harsh penalties for threats of mass violence in schools, with critics saying that the law is vague in its definitions of a credible threat, putting individuals, specifically those with disabilities, at a significant risk of being prosecuted for statements that are misunderstood.
A final hearing on the Chattanooga Prep settlement will be heard by a federal judge on July 1.
Sources:
https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2025/may/30/chatt-prep-agrees-to-pay-100000-to-family-of-11
