Gay daughter being threatened with expulsion at public charter school

Hi, all. We are in Georgia.

My 4th grade daughter is gay. This situation has been evolving from the start of the year but basically she told someone she was considering suicide and we immediately put her in therapy. We knew that there was a situation with her a former friend bullying her and after several meetings we moved her to another class in the same grade and same school to separate the two children.

About a month ago, she came home in hysterics. Before I could get the full story from her, her assistant principal called me and told me that my daughter had told a close friend that she was gay and another child overheard it and told several other children. Allegedly some children went home and asked their parents what being gay meant, some parents called the school demanding answers, and it came out that the statement had originated from my child. My child was told that it was inappropriate to discuss this at school and if she continued to speak about it again, she would be expelled.

She attends a public magnet/charter school in our district. You test to get into the school and she’s been here since her first day of kindergarten. She is a straight A student. From what I can figure out, as long as the district still offers to let her attend her neighborhood school, they consider what they are doing perfectly legal.

The commitment pledge for next year came today and it requires both the child and a parent to sign it. It states that enrollment is contingent upon academic achievement, appropriate behavior, and attendance and that as parents we will voluntarily withdraw our children should they fail to adhere to these standards. The appropriate behavior part is what the AP has mentioned when we’ve spoken about what they can hammer her on. It’s not like she’s blatantly hitting on other girls at school, she just honestly told a friend who she was.

I don’t want to make any trouble for her but this whole thing just doesn’t feel very legal and I don’t even know what the next step should be. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Written By: halochick117
Source: http://bit.ly/2KCegjh