Maury County board downgrades student's disciplinary classification after appeal

The Maury County School Board voted May 5 to overturn a level 4 disciplinary finding and reclassify a student's conduct as level 3 fighting, updating the student's permanent disciplinary record accordingly.

Board attorney Mr. Hogan opened the disciplinary-hearing appeal under policy 6.317 and summarized the record: on March 5, staff responded to an altercation at Battle Creek Middle and the principal initially imposed a three-day out-of-school suspension plus a 30-day placement in the alternative learning program; the disciplinary hearing authority (DHA) later reclassified the conduct from "assault" to "fighting" and reduced placement to 15 days, and the superintendent affirmed the DHA's classification while granting credit for the three days of OSS toward the alternative placement.

Why it matters: a level 4 designation appears in some documents as "assault" and remains part of the appeal packet; board members said clearing the permanent record to reflect the DHA's reduction was necessary because the change affects how the incident will appear in the student's cumulative file going forward.

Parent's claim and board response The student's parent, who appealed the discipline and spoke at the meeting, said she watched the full video and argued school documentation omitted key timestamps showing her child being provoked. "If you see the whole video... he was hit first," the parent said, urging the board to reduce the level because she believes her son was defending himself and has no prior record. The parent also raised concerns about the school resource officer's handling and said a juvenile petition filed in county court was later dismissed.

Board members and the attorney framed the decision narrowly around the board's role under policy 6.317. "The standard is whether this student's conduct met a level 4 classification," Board attorney Mr. Hogan told members, adding that comparative fairness and other students' records are confidential and not before the board.

Deliberation and vote Board member Sue Stevenson (who said she watched the video repeatedly) moved to change the classification to level 3 (fighting) and to update the relevant entries so the permanent record reflects the DHA's reduction from 30 days to 15 days; Jamila Brown seconded the motion. After brief discussion about which documents constitute the permanent file and how they will be updated, the motion passed.

What the board directed: Board members clarified they would not alter original pre-hearing documents printed for the DHA record, but they directed staff to update the student's permanent disciplinary record to show the classification as level 3 fighting and to reflect DHA's adjustment of placement days.

Next steps: The board chair said staff will update the permanent cumulative record as directed. The hearing record and printed appeal packet remain part of the administrative record for this case.

Provenance and context: The appeal arose from a March 5 fight at Battle Creek Middle; the DHA reduced the placement to 15 days and the superintendent credited three days of OSS toward that placement before the parent pursued this appeal to the board. The hearing took place in open session under policy 6.317 and included oral remarks from the parent and questions from board members and counsel.