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Student's expulsion over warm beer could mean changes for generations

By Carl Willis
By Carl Willis

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A student’s expulsion from school could lead to changes for other students for years to come after the teen's mother took her son’s punishment to the school board.

It stemmed from the discovery of unopened, warm beer in the student’s car in Bowdon High School’s parking lot.

The student, who is a senior, was expelled. That punishment has sparked debate in Carroll County.

The punishment has sparked debate in Carroll County.

"I don't think a student's education should be put in jeopardy after something like that," Carroll County resident Lauren Strickland told Channel 2's Carl Willis.

"They’re probably trying to use him as an example," parent Kimberly Grisham said.

The student's mother appealed the expulsion, taking it to the school board level. That action led board members to question the current policy structure.

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"The board has directed the superintendent to review the policies on the student code of conduct. So in the next couple of months, we are supposed to be reviewing those policies and the potential discipline," Carroll County school board member Bart Carter said.

Cater previously compared this incident to one involving assistant superintendent Terry Jones, who, according to a police report, left a handgun in a Board of Education vehicle in 2014.

Jones told Willis he had no comment about that incident, but it was a policy violation. But that ended with no punishment.

It's another reason, Cater said, for the board to rethink things.

"For me, personally, I would like to see a more tiered approach to the punishment and not just one size punishment fits all," Carter said.

That potential change could affect generations to come.

"It would help future kids," Grisham told Willis.

"Their future is a little bigger than a few beer cans found in the back of a truck," Strickland said.

Cox Media Group

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