A first grader with autism was suspended after biting his sandwich into the shape of a gun and pointing it at a classmate during lunch.
School records show Sara Harp Minter Elementary administrators issued more than two dozen disciplinary actions against 6-year-old John Medina. Since 2023, the school disciplined John at least 33 times, including 14 suspensions.
The sandwich suspension happened last school year in March.
School officials say during lunch, 6-year-old John Medina bit his sandwich into the shape of a gun, pointed it at a classmate and made shooting sounds.
John’s mother, Kristin Medina, said she wanted to share what happened to compel administrators to prevent future unnecessary disciplinary actions.
“They informed me over that phone call that he was getting suspended for it,” she said. “And you’re just like baffled.”
His family says the incident is part of a broader pattern of the district disciplining their son without adequately considering his disability.
Records also show John was suspended for pointing a water bottle at someone while making gun noises and was disciplined for drawing a pilgrim shooting a turkey.
The family hired Donna Reynolds, a former special education director who worked in a different Georgia school district, to represent them during meetings with Fayette County Schools. Reynolds said the suspension did not account for John’s age or disability.
“I don’t think a 6-year-old without autism would understand that that’s not appropriate,” Reynolds said.
“They make their fingers into guns. They pick up sticks and make them into guns.”
Reynolds said districts must weigh multiple factors before disciplining students in similar situations. “They need to look at the whole picture,” she said.
“You need to look at his age. You need to look at his disability.
Medina said the cumulative effect of the disciplinary actions has taken a toll on John. “I think he feels like he’s a bad kid,” she said. “There were definitely times when he would come home and say ‘I’m a bad kid’ and that’s really hard to hear as a mom.”
She said the district could have prevented some of John’s behavior had school officials followed his individualized education program, or IEP, which included accommodations such as taking him on short walks when he is overstimulated.
Family members point to the IEP as a core issue in how the school has handled John’s needs.
They point to his IEP, which listed supports such as short walks when he became overstimulated, and say those accommodations were not consistently provided.
Instead of seeing the behavior as a signal that he needed help, they argue, the school repeatedly treated it as a reason to remove him from class.
Some incidents include violent behavior, such as kicking and punching another student at recess.
The superintendent’s response offered little detail.
“We just want to recognize that these things are difficult,” Patterson said, adding that the district is “committed to meeting parents to try to work through these challenging situations.”
He did not directly address the suspension tied to the sandwich incident.
“We have parents who are very happy with what’s going on and we have parents that aren’t. And so we try to work through those individually,” Patterson added.
In the viral moment that sparked renewed attention to the district’s disciplinary practices, the boy bit his lunch sandwich into the shape of a gun during the March school day.
School officials say 6-year-old John Medina bit his sandwich into the shape of a gun, pointed it at a classmate and made shooting sounds.
The school suspended him for the incident—one disciplinary action among dozens now under scrutiny.
The mother says this suspension was the breaking point.
John’s mother, Kristin Medina, said she wanted to share what happened to compel administrators to prevent future unnecessary disciplinary actions. Medina said she shared the family’s experience to help other parents of children with disabilities facing similar issues.
John enters second grade in August.