An 11-Year-Old Denied Making a Threat and Was Allowed to Return to School. Tennessee Police Arrested Him Anyway.

Decades ago, Congress made a commitment to fund a higher education system for Indigenous communities. But a quarter-billion-dollar annual shortfall has led to crimped budgets and crumbling buildings, even as enrollment rises.

An 11-Year-Old Denied Making a Threat and Was Allowed to Return to School. Tennessee Police Arrested Him Anyway.

Reporting Highlights

  • Facing Felony Charges: Starting this academic year, making a threat of mass violence at schools in Tennessee is a felony, for adults or children.
  • Police Take the Lead: Law enforcement officers say that even when kids make threats that are not credible, they need to be held accountable for their actions.
  • Contradicting Mandates: Schools must consider whether a threat is “valid” before expelling a child, but police don’t have to. Some kids are being arrested but not expelled.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

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