Middle Tennessee parents sue Williamson County school board, claim child was unfairly expelled, punished

The parents of an Independence High School student are suing the Williamson County school board and District Attorney Stacey Edmondson after they say their child was unfairly expelled and punished under a districtwide zero tolerance policy.

The case is the latest filing against the board regarding the zero tolerance policy, passed in 2023 as a result of the Covenant School shooting in Nashville. A second case, filed May 21 in the U.S. District Court’s Middle Tennessee district at Nashville, involves two middle school students and is also pending.

The Williamson County school board declined to comment for this story, citing the pending litigation.

Attempts to reach Edmondson for comment on this story were not successful.

The newest lawsuit, filed Aug. 16 by Julie and Scott Wernert in the same U.S. District Court at Nashville, claims the couple’s son was criminally prosecuted by Edmonson’s office and was “humiliated before his peers, deprived of access to his classes and curriculum and made to suffer other indignities,” after he was expelled for allegedly doing a “Hitler salute” and making a comment about North Korea in a class on Sept. 11.

Under Williamson County Schools’ zero tolerance policy, any student found to have made threats, including speech, that a reasonable person could conclude would lead to serious bodily injury or death for two or more people should be expelled for a year.

But, no evidence has been presented, to date, showing that the boy actually made the salute or the comment, the 22-page suit said, noting that Independence High School Principal Nikki Patton is said to have shouted, “I don’t care, I want him arrested,” in response to the lack of proof.

The boy was subsequently arrested, strip-searched, taken to a Juvenile Detention Center and placed in solitary confinement, the suit said. It also adds that the use of the word “threat” is not defined in state law and as a result, “the lack of an intent element leaves a child who utters anything that can be even remotely construed as a ‘threat’ vulnerable to criminal prosecution and other dire consequences.”

That argument is advanced further in the joint lawsuit, filed on behalf of the middle schoolers in May. It claims both students were questioned and punished under the zero-tolerance policy.

In the first incident, a 14-year-old student at Page Middle School was accused on Aug. 10, 2023 by another student of making threats about having a gun in his backpack, shooting up the school and having a bomb at home, the suit said.

The student was placed on a 24-hour solitary confinement hold and, “was required to strip down and change into jail clothes while an adult male guard was facing away,” the suit said, also noting that the boy was incarcerated for four days and later placed under house arrest in his parents’ custody.

After appealing the punishment to the school board, Williamson County Superintendent Jason Golden concluded that the boy would be allowed to return to class, although he created a rumor “of a threat of a weapon” at school.

The second incident outlined in the joint suit makes no mention of a resolution.

It occurred on Aug. 22, 2023 at Fairview Middle School.

School officials determined that a 13-year-old student’s text message was a “Threat of Mass Violence,” the suit said.

In a text thread, shared with the court, the student was talking about plans for the week and responded at one point, “on Thursday we kill all the Mexico’s,” the suit reads.

The girl was taken to the Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center, where she was forced to undergo a strip search. She was also allegedly questioned by staff, who asked “if she had ever had sex, an abortion or suicidal thoughts,” the suit said.

The joint suit is seeking $300,000 in damages for both students and for the zero tolerance policy to be declared unconstitutional.

The Wernert lawsuit is also seeking $300,000 in damages along with the same policy designation.