Family says teen with autism suspended after hacking Cobb School’s computer system

COBB COUNTY, Ga. (HERE NEWS) – Patricia Skellie says her 14-year-old grandson, who has autism, was recently suspended from school for hacking into the Cobb County School District’s computer system. She says it happened on three separate occasions.

Raising Concerns

“He’s never done any of it in a malicious way,” Skellie said. Skellie’s grandson attends Barber Middle School. She doesn’t deny it that he hacked into the system but says he didn’t steal any personal information and just wanted to see if he could get inside. She says this also happened on a school-issued laptop.

“If a county gives students all these computers, shouldn’t they be protected?” Skellie said.

Understanding the Situation

Skellie says Cobb Schools held a tribunal on Tuesday where they suspended her grandson and recommended an alternative school. But Skellie alleges that the district did not take into account her grandson’s autism and mental health diagnosis. She says he’s considered to be on level 2 of the autism spectrum.

“They were there to look strictly at behavior and said they would look at him as a typical 14-year-old student,” Skellie said.

Official Statement

A Cobb County District spokesperson acknowledged the situation and sent HERE NEWS the following statement: “Threats to over 100,000 students’ safety, including hacking, will be met with the full force of the law and applicable District policy. Although we cannot discuss lawsuits or student discipline details, we are confident the Court will agree the District followed both due process and applicable state and Federal laws.”

Still, Skellie wonders if this could’ve all been prevented if Cobb Schools would’ve added more online security the first time her grandson got into the system last year.

“Why didn’t the [school] system put in more filters, or firewalls, to prevent children from getting into that,” Skellie said.

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