Alexander Paul is a rising 8th grader at Woodstock Middle School that was recently expelled following an instance of racially motivated bullying.  As a POC, this has been a recurring issue for him at this school and most recently he was taunted by a white student about whether or not he was visible in the dark after the teacher turned the lights off. Because this has occurred so many other times where Alex has remained calm and respectful, his white peer’s provocation led to a physical disturbance.  Unfortunately, Alex was expelled from school for at least a year and potentially longer after defending himself in yet another humiliating scenario in his classroom setting.  While the white student only received in-school suspension for projecting this racial comment towards him. 
As a fellow rising 8th grader and POC, I know that living in this county can sometimes be hard.  I also know that this last year before high school is a major year and expelling him will only serve to impact him emotionally, socially, and educationally; putting him behind other students and forcing him to make new friends.  Completely detaching him from his current social and learning environment is absurd.  It’s also unfair that as POCs at this school, we even have to deal with racial comments all the time. There never seems to be anything done about it.  It’s exhausting.
Alex is a good student with a bright future ahead of him whose future is at risk based on something that he did not initiate and had no control over other than to defend himself finally.  He is not just a POC, he’s a son, a friend, a nephew, a cousin, a brother.  You must put that into your thoughts while reading this.
I’m including a link to the CCSD code of conduct so that you can view the policies for yourself (Pages 17-24).  They indicate in a situation like this one, he should have only received out of school suspension. https://www.cherokeek12.net/userfiles/5/my%20files/2020-21%20updates/2020-21%20code%20of%20conduct.pdf?id=19930 . I’m asking for you to take a few seconds to sign this petition in hopes of saving my friend’s future. And also, to stand up against racism in our county and our schools. 

Thank you.