The parents of an expelled student are suing Cass City Public Schools and its officials for mishandling an alleged threat made by the student shortly after the 2021 Oxford High School shooting.
The recent tragedy was the topic of discussion at many schools in the aftermath, with the Cass City school district being no exception, holding an informational discussion and presentation about school shootings on December 6, 2021.
The family’s lawyer, Keith Altman, told ABC12 News that after the presentation, the student had been discussing details about the Oxford case when, “Somebody supposedly overhears the conversation, who wasn’t part of it, and claims that he said ‘I have a gun in my bag.'”
It was only after the student was strip-searched, his school bag checked and the police called to the school was it found that the student had never made the alleged threat. The school, however, still expelled the student for 180 days, leading to the parents pursuing a four-count civil lawsuit. Given the incident occurred a week after the Oxford tragedy, Altman said that while no one faults the school for reacting to a potential threat, the family takes issue with the overreaction.
The lawsuit alleges the school’s negligence led to both a violation of the student’s constitutional rights as well as emotional distress for the student, who did not return to the school for the 2022-2023 academic year.
