Student returning to class without suspension

A Henry County student is being allowed to return to class before serving a 10-day suspension handed down for possession of counterfeit money at school.

After a disciplinary hearing ruled that Austin Road Middle School student Christian Philon must serve the time, district superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis made an executive decision to send him back to class. Philon and both of his parents maintained that they had no idea the bill was fake. The position was shared by a deputy sheriff who investigated the incident, according to a statement issued Jan. 18 by the district.

At that time Davis intervened to review the case and “found the assignment of punishment to lack the necessary discretion given the evidence produced,” according to the statement. “Additionally, she has directed the immediate examination of the entire Code of Conduct and the process for assigning consequences for student infractions.”