DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) - A South Georgia mother is considering a lawsuit after her son was accused of vaping in school and kicked out. She says the Coffee County School System hasn’t provided evidence that her son did it.
Tenzie Morris says she hired an attorney because she says her son, Trayveon Ross, is being told to go to an alternative school next school year after the school system said he was in possession of a vape with THC at school. 50k puff vape
According to a Behavior Detail Report, the school says Ross admitted to smoking a THC vape on April 19, 2024, but Ross says he never admitted to that. The report says the vape smoke set off the fire alarm, forcing an evacuation. Ross was then suspended for three days and told to finish the remainder of last school year and the first semester of the upcoming school year at Coffee Educational Academy. But Morris says she refuses to send him there.
“If they had the evidence that they say they have, we would be going forward. We are still on standby. I even went to the schools asking but they really wanted me to place him in alternative school,” Morris said.
Georgia state law says if a school recommends suspension for less than or equal to ten school days, the student must be given oral or written notice of the charges. If the student denies them, evidence must be presented, and the student has the opportunity to present their side of the story. But even then, the student can still be removed from the school and does not have the right to a formal hearing or to appeal the suspension.
It’s something that doesn’t sit right with not only Ross’s mother but others in the community as well.
“They gave him alternative school for the whole semester, and these are good kids. Sometimes, like our prison system, you put them around people who have issues going on and that makes it worse,” Michael Newton, a concerned resident, said.
Paperwork shows he can return to Coffee High in January 2025.
WALB did speak with Attorney Kelly Neal out of Macon, who confirmed Ross is her client.
Coffee County Schools Superintendent Morris Leis declined to interview about the matter.
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