FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Supporters of a former high school coach, who is fighting a suspension over a videotaped incident surrounding a gun on campus, say he should be rewarded and not punished for his actions that day.
Those supporters say former Tri-Cities High School Athletic Director Kenneth Miller saved lives that day.
But the Fulton County School System say it wasn’t Miller’s job to save lives. They say he should have left that up to law enforcement.
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Miller’s supporters met outside the school system’s Administrative Center in Sandy Springs Wednesday.
They clapped for him and hugged him after he left a hearing where he and his attorney contested the district’s efforts to suspend him for 20 days with pay.
Miller says a suspension makes no sense.
“We saved lives that day,” he said, with his supporters behind him.
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Miller says it was last August when he learned the student in the video brought a gun to school and it was in her book bag.
In the video, you see Miller questioning her.
The student became unruly. She cursed, screamed and was aggressive as Miller talked to her about the gun. Law enforcement were in the room and standing by.
The video shows the student slap a phone out of Miller’s hand. He says he tried to restrain her. She then pushed him down on a bookcase and landed on him.
An officer had to use a stun gun on her to get her under control. The district says it later found a gun in the student’s book bag.
The school system first wanted to fire Miller, alleging he violated the Professional Standards Commission’s Code of Ethics. It referred to Miller’s action as child abuse.
Now, the district just wants to suspend him.
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Miller’s attorney, Allen Lightcap, says that makes no sense, since the commission looked at the evidence and found Miller did nothing wrong.
“No evidence of a violation of law or the code of ethics,” he said, while reading from the document from the commission.
Meanwhile, Miller’s supporters couldn’t understand why the district was still trying to discipline him.
“This case is egregious,” said Rev. Dr. Michael Stinson of the East Point First Mallalieu. He said Miller should be rewarded, not punished for his actions. “He saved lives that day.”
Miller says he wouldn’t want to be put in that situation again, but he said if God placed him there, “I would do it all over again.”
The hearing was private and the public wasn’t allowed inside. A hearing officer will recommend whether Miller should be suspended or not within five days. Then the superintendent will accept or reject that recommendation.
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