Family of 8-year-old cut at school to file lawsuit against DeKalb school district

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The family of an 8-year-old boy seriously cut by another student at school plans to take legal action against the DeKalb County School District.

“He’s traumatized, the family’s traumatized,” Robert Worrill, an attorney representing the family, said.

Worrill told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims that the third-grader has not been at school since his hand was sliced with a blade from a box cutter. It happened Nov. 2 at Stoneview Elementary School.

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“Our main thing is, when our kids leave for school, we want them to come back the same way that they left,” Worrill said.

He said no lawsuit has yet been filed, but he’s in a “fact-finding” process.

The child’s grandmother, Deactria Mathis, said a boy brought the blade to school.

She said he gave it to the girl who then cut the top of her grandson’s hand, causing a 7-inch-long wound. He spent a couple of hours in the hospital, she said. He’s been homeschooled ever since.

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Mathis said all elementary schools should have weapon detection systems like the middle and high schools in Dekalb County do. That would have prevented her grandson from getting hurt, she said.

But in a written statement, district officials said " … it was clear that the overwhelming majority of weapon incidents within the DeKalb County School District occurred in middle and high schools. … Elementary schools continue to maintain comprehensive safety protocols, which include secured entry points, visitor management systems, and recurring emergency drills.”

Worrill said the school failed to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment. “It’s hard for him to be at such a young age and this to happen to him,” he said.

“Every time he looks at his arm, it’s a scar there,” Mathis said to Channel 2 Action News. “And this scar will be there for life.”

Stoneview Elementary School’s principal did send a letter to parents alerting them to the incident. She said bringing a weapon onto campus has “serious consequences.”

A district spokesperson said he could not comment on any pending litigation.

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