Henry County student’s record expunged in counterfeit money incident

A student at Austin Road Middle School who was initially suspended after inadvertently using a counterfeit bill to pay for his lunch has now had the entire incident expunged, according to a law firm acting on his behalf.

Christian Philon’s 10-day suspension was overturned by district superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis before he actually served any of it. A spokesperson for the McGuireWoods law firm’s Atlanta office stated that the Henry County Board of Education decided at a Jan. 30 hearing to remove the incident from his record.

The firm submitted a brief in support of Philon’s appeal, asserted that the district’s zero tolerance policy violates Georgia law requiring that schools use discretion in considering disciplinary matters.