ACLU Challenges Coweta Schools Over East Coweta High Protest Punishments

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia is challenging the Coweta County School System over discipline issued to students who took part in the Feb. 6 walkout at East Coweta High School protesting immigration enforcement.

In a March 6 letter to Superintendent Evan Horton, school board members, and East Coweta High Principal Steve Allen, the ACLU said the district’s response to the protest raises constitutional concerns about how student speech is treated in schools.

The Feb. 6 walkout drew significant attention after students left class during the school day, prompting a response from administrators and law enforcement. Several students were arrested following interactions with responding law enforcement officers. Separately, 120 students later received school suspensions from the district related to the walkout.

ACLU questions discipline tied to protest

In its letter, the ACLU said multiple students were punished for participating in the protest and argued that schools must apply rules consistently regardless of the viewpoint students express.

“It is well established that students ‘do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,’” wrote Briana Futch, a Marshall-Motley Legal Fellow with the ACLU Foundation of Georgia, citing the U.S. Supreme Court decision Tinker v. Des Moines.

The organization compared the Feb. 6 walkout to a 2025 student rally held at East Coweta High in support of Principal Allen following his arrest on a domestic violence charge involving his adult son that was later dismissed by the Coweta County District Attorney’s Office. According to the ACLU, that earlier event was observed or supervised by school officials and did not result in student discipline.

The letter argues that if students were allowed to gather for one cause without punishment but disciplined for another, the district must explain the difference.

The ACLU urged school officials to remove disciplinary records tied to the walkout and ensure students are not punished further for participating.

The Coweta County School System responded to the ACLU’s concerns in a letter dated March 12.

School system defends response

In a four-page response dated March 12, Horton rejected the ACLU’s claims and said the district’s actions were based on disruption to the school day rather than the content of the protest.

Horton wrote that 120 East Coweta students were suspended following the Feb. 6 walkout, which he said involved students leaving class without permission, disrupting instruction, damaging a fence on campus, and refusing directions from school staff.

“The walkout at East Coweta on February 6 was not, as you characterize it, a simple exercise of free speech,” Horton wrote. “It was a planned student walkout from class… carried out that day in direct defiance of earlier warnings by administrators.”

Horton said the protest created disruption to instruction and that school staff reported students using profanity toward administrators and refusing directions to return to class. He also cited damage to a fence on campus during the event.

The superintendent wrote that schools have the authority to limit student speech when it materially disrupts school operations or threatens safety.

District distinguishes earlier rally

Horton also disputed the ACLU’s comparison to the 2025 rally supporting Allen.

According to Horton, that gathering took place during a lunch period and was supervised by staff so it would not disrupt class instruction.

“The event was allowed and held during lunch under supervision so as to minimize such impact,” Horton wrote, adding that it was not comparable to students leaving class during the February protest.

Horton said the school system had warned students ahead of time that walking out of class would violate the student code of conduct.

In his letter, Horton said the school system is already in compliance with the law and declined the ACLU’s invitation to discuss the issue further. The ACLU’s letter did not indicate whether additional legal action could follow.