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Parents raise safety and discipline concerns at Newton County STEAM Academy after recent lockdown
Summary
A group of parents, represented by Patrick Briggs, told the board that repeated misconduct by a single student and lack of cumulative disciplinary enforcement contributed to a recent emergency lockdown at the district's STEAM Academy; they said communication from the district about follow-up was insufficient.
During public participation, Patrick Briggs and other parents from the Newton County STEAM Academy raised repeated concerns about a student they say repeatedly violated the academy's code-of-conduct provisions and about the district's handling of a recent emergency lockdown.
Briggs said his family has been part of the school's community for 13 years and described a pattern in which a particular student (not identified publicly in the meeting) has allegedly violated multiple code provisions over several years but was repeatedly returned to class after each incident. Briggs said he counted roughly seven rule violations by that student in his daughter's case and criticized what he described as the absence of a cumulative or "strike" system in the code of conduct.
Briggs said the child he described is a strong suspect in an emergency lockdown that occurred the prior Monday and expressed concern that the student returned to class the next day while parents had not received clear, general information about disciplinary outcomes. Briggs said staff told parents "we can't say anything" about individual student disciplinary matters and that parents were frustrated by a lack of timely follow-up communications after the lockdown. He requested clearer, non-identifying updates about incidents and confidence that the school is enforcing rules consistently.
The board did not take formal action during public comment. Briggs said he was representing several other parents, asked for more transparent general follow-up after safety incidents and emphasized that parents want assurances that the code of conduct is being applied consistently.
