Cobb Schools Violated State Code For Disability Protocols: GADOE

COBB COUNTY, GA — The Cobb County School District violated state code after it attempted to press charges against a student with autism earlier this year, the Georgia Department of Education determined last week. Now, the district has one month to make changes and provide additional special needs training to its staff.

In August, 12-year-old Jadon Ringland faced felony charges after threatening to burn people and property at Hightower Trail Middle School in East Cobb, the Cobb County Courier first reported. According to an incident report filed by Jadon's teacher, he began yelling during a science lesson: "I will burn all the teachers. I will burn this school down and all the students in this class. One by one, I will make bottles. It is easy. I will put in a glass bottle gas and a piece of cloth and burn them. I will burn you," People Magazine reported. He was then taken to a sensory room for 20 minutes.

But he was only repeating what he saw and heard in a video game, his mom Tovah told the news outlet — which is a symptom of his autism diagnosis, also called "scripting," but officially named echolalia. His favorite game is Red Dead Redemption, which he plays with his brother to bond. In the game, players can use Molotov cocktails to attack enemies.

Tovah told People that her son has a behavior intervention plan with the district, which includes two behaviors that could cause disruptions in class because of his autism. The behaviors mentioned include "loudly scripting" and "making verbal threats to kill or harm others."

His teachers then have a list of what they are supposed to do and an exact script of what they should say to him if he displays one of the behaviors, Tovah told People. But none of it happened, and when Tovah asked Jadon if what he said was real or pretend, he said pretend.

After a CBS46 investigation that found the teacher did not follow protocol and instead called a school officer — who then charged Jadon with the felonies — the judge and Cobb County District Attorney dismissed the charges against the 12 year old.

Now, the state DOE said the district violated the state code provision of a "free appropriate public education," and gave the district a deadline of Nov. 19 to submit proof of revisions to its protocol for documenting how a behavior intervention plan is being implemented, CBS46 reported.

Once approved, the district will have to train all special education teachers and administrators at Hightower Trail Middle School on how to implement the procedures through documented practices, which will be tracked with attendance rosters and submitted to the GADOE by Jan. 14, 2022, the department said in a letter of its findings.

"Mrs. Tovah has come before the BOE long before I joined in January advocating for her son. According this article and the judgement by a Cobb Judge, the CCSD didn’t provide this young man FAPE," said Leroy "Tre" Hutchins, Cobb school board member, on his official board Facebook page. "As a result, a review of policy and procedures is mandated. Having a well trained and educated team is vitally important to ensure we are properly supporting every child entrusted to us. It is my hope, we take this opportunity to learn and grow."