Parent says Russell County discipline policy punishes students who defend themselves, urges changes

Angela Street, a Russell County parent, told the Russell County School Board that the district's discipline and anti-bullying policies need clearer language to protect students who act in self-defense.

Street recounted multiple incidents dating back to her son's second-grade year and said that administrators and staff sometimes misapplied discipline. "I know there has to be a policy because we don't want kids thinking it's okay to fight. However, there needs to be something in there that allows for a child that gets attacked, unprovoked, that they do not get punished whenever they have to fight back to defend themselves," she said.

The parent said her son was suspended twice after being attacked and that school-level responses did not include a fuller investigation of bullying claims. She described a ninth-grade…