Parent tells Coffee County board her son feared returning to school after bullying; board vows follow-up
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Summary
A parent told the Coffee County Board of Education her middle-school son faced ongoing bullying and asked the district to enforce its zero-tolerance policy and increase supervision; board members said they would follow up with campus administrators and review discipline actions.
A parent described emotional, ongoing bullying of her son at Cookney Middle School and told the Coffee County Board of Education on Monday that the student had begged her not to return to school.
The parent, speaking during public comment, said she first learned of the Sept. 19 incident when a teacher called on Sept. 20. “He begged me to allow him to to commit suicide,” the parent said, adding that school staff moved her son out of gym class but left the alleged aggressors in place. She urged the board to “enforce the zero-tolerance bullying policy already in place” and to improve supervision in bathrooms, the cafeteria and hallways.
The complaint prompted a series of questions from board members and administrators about what corrective steps had been taken. “They should have been moved to alternative school,” an unidentified board member said during the exchange, referring to disciplinary options in district policy. Board members also noted that staff are required to report incidents and that administrators should be notifying parents and following the district’s chain-of-command procedures.
A district official said the central office first learned of the episode after seeing a social media post and forwarded it to the principal for Monday morning action. Board members urged the parent to follow the district’s reporting process so staff could document the incident and pursue discipline. Several officials said they would follow up directly with the campus and emphasized that the board and administration view student safety as a priority.
The public comment period, which the district said is limited to five minutes per speaker and 20 minutes total, concluded after the exchange. The board did not take a formal disciplinary vote during the meeting but recorded that administrators would investigate and report back.
The board meeting also included routine business and a consent-agenda vote; the bullying complaint was the most substantive public comment during the session.
