Gwinnett punishes lots of students in ‘sex’ cases; too many, say some

A five-year-old Gwinnett County kindergarten student was accused of sexual harassment earlier this school year, and some say that is part of a disturbing trend in the school district.

The student’s attorney, Andrea Landers, argued the child is too young to comprehend sexual harassment, but the student was suspended from school.

“It’s one example where Gwinnett is using its net too wide in labeling students,” said Landers, who works for Atlanta Legal Aid and frequently represents students accused of violating Gwinnett’s disciplinary rules, “and the students are stigmatized with sexual misconduct, which in some cases may not be the case.”

Landers and some attorneys and parents say Gwinnett County’s school system goes too far in punishing students. Sexual offenses can range from serious offenses such as battery to possession of pornographic materials. Under the school district’s code, the penalty for something like kissing a classmate in a school hallway can range from a talking-to by a school official to a nine-day suspension. A maximum suspension for something like kissing would be a consequence after several prior infractions, officials said.

Related:

Landers said she couldn’t discuss the circumstances of her client’s case, but she said conduct a federal government report cited as not being sexual harassment, such as kissing a classmate on the cheek, “is similar to the conduct involved in my client’s case.”

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of state data shows Gwinnett reported 1,164 instances of sexual offenses by students last school year, more than the school districts of Atlanta, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton combined. The state data also show the 10 public schools in Georgia with the highest number of reported sexual offenses last school year were all in Gwinnett County. During the 2014-15 school year, nine of the top 10 were in Gwinnett, the data shows.

“They’ve been very aggressive,” Craig Goodmark, who also works with Atlanta Legal Aid, said of Gwinnett.

Some say Gwinnett has long been vigilant on school discipline to maintain control of its classrooms. Many of its schools have more students than some college campuses.

“If you don’t have a strong discipline program, you are going to have a riot,” said Jimmy Stokes, executive director of the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders, who conducts disciplinary hearings in several Georgia school districts. Gwinnett “doesn’t put up with any foolishness, but they’re fair.”

Randolph Irvin, Gwinnett schools’ director of student discipline and behavioral interventions, said in an email, “We use a process of progressive discipline that focuses on teaching and learning and providing engaging classroom lessons as the first step in classroom management; communicating clearly about behavioral expectations; ensuring that school rules are followed; and then, if needed, that appropriate consequences are given if rules are broken.”

Related:

The school district’s communications director, Sloan Roach noted Gwinnett is also the state’s largest school district, with an estimated 176,000 students, which she said may explain why it has all 10 schools with the largest number of sexual offenses. Four of the 10 schools with the highest number of reported sexual offenses per pupil during the last school year were in Gwinnett, state data show.

Stokes said many cases begin with students sharing explicit pictures or comments via email or social media. Last school year, the top three offenses in Gwinnett were a lewd caress of another student (64 instances), obscene gestures (50) and kissing (47), state records show. There were 11 reported instances of sexual battery last school year, which can bring permanent expulsion.

If the discipline is a suspension greater than 10 days, parents can appeal to a school hearing officer or tribunal.They may appeal that decision to a school board, state education department or the local court system. Landers, the Legal Aid attorney, lamented that she couldn’t go before a school tribunal because her client’s punishment was less than 10 days.

Gwinnett’s penalties are similar to other school districts, experts say, although they’re imposed more often. Some suggest districts like Gwinnett are more vigilant in punishing students for sexual offenses in response to federal directives in recent years to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses and in public schools. During the past five school years, the number of sexual offenses reported by Georgia’s public school districts has increased from 3,185 to 4,674, 47 percent, state data show. School districts are responsible for reporting sexual offense data to the state.

“The public is more sensitive to (reporting) sexual offenses,” Stokes said. “Folks have become more diligent across the state in calling a spade a spade.”

Parent Tracee Brown is among those who believe Gwinnett goes too far. Her son, an eighth-grader, was suspended from his school in late September for the remainder of this school year after officials said he inappropriately touched a female classmate and took pictures of her. Brown disputes the allegation, saying the school didn’t mention in writing details of the offense.

“You haven’t said which body part my son touched and he gets suspended the whole year,” she said, adding that the maximum punishment for his alleged offense should have been a nine day suspension.

Gwinnett offered to allow Brown’s son to attend one of its alternative schools. She decided to home school him.

Brown filed a complaint with the U.S. Education Department's Office of Civil Rights and accused the school of ongoing racial discrimination against her son, who is African-American. She suggests many Gwinnett schools are discriminating, citing school district data that show African-American students are disproportionately suspended or expelled. Last school year, black students were the subjects of about 55 percent of Gwinnett's disciplinary hearings although they make up about one-third of the school district's student population.

Gwinnett officials said they couldn’t comment on specific cases. In one email Brown shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an assistant principal told Brown that, contrary to her claim, the school wasn’t harassing her son.

Brown wants the suspension lifted, her son’s record expunged and an internal investigation of school administrators. The case is scheduled to go to the state Board of Education later this month, she said.

Stokes said he’s working with school districts across Georgia to ensure they have uniform and consistent disciplinary policies. He offered a different perspective when asked if the penalties for some sexual offenses are too severe.

“The level of penalties are established by the community,” he said. “They set the standards.”

Landers wants Gwinnett and other school districts to pursue more training opportunities that would encourage educators to think more about whether a student is developmentally aware of whether he or she has committed a sexual offense and what, if any, discipline is appropriate.

“That would help weed out some of those cases,” she said.

Here are the most severe penalties for various offenses in Gwinnett’s school system: