Mother; Teen Sue School District

A Hinds County mom says her son is being unfairly punished over something harmless.  She’s now suing to get her son out of alternative school and back into Terry High School.

The Mississippi Youth Justice Project filed the lawsuit on Monday in Chancery Court.  The group is part of the Southern Poverty Law Center and is defending the 10th grader who was kicked out of school for playing a coin toss game on the school bus.

The teen, identified in court documents as A.H., was kicked out of Terry High School and transferred to the Main Street Alternative School.  The lawsuit claims the program is academically weaker.

“The district has no proof that the coin my son tossed, or any coin, assaulted the bus driver,“ said Tara Wren Douglas, the teen’s mother.

Douglas says district officials told her they had video evidence of the incident, but have not shared it with her.  She says her son is being made an example because of who the bus driver is.

“The bus driver is the mother of the assistant superintendent of education, and it is my belief that had something to do with it,“ she said.

The Mississippi Youth Justice Project alleges that alternative schools in Mississippi serve children with disciplinary or academic problems.  In a written statement, A.H. said, “I feel like I’m missing out on getting to do a lot.“

“His constitutional rights were trampled when the district moved him to the alternative school without giving his parents access to the evidence they had against him,“ said Courtney Bowie, the lead attorney in the case.

The group says they’ve taken the case to show it contradicts the state’s educational goal of encouraging students to graduate. 

In a written statement, Hinds County Superintendent Dr. Stephen Handley said,“ We routinely have parents comment on the extremely positive experiences their children have at the Main Street Restart Center.“  However, the district wouldn’t comment about the current case.