A talented student faced suspension after an Arizona school’s monitoring system detected a draft email in which he jokingly threatened to shoot up the school due to a poor grade. In response, his parents are pursuing legal action.
Identified only as NM in legal documents, the Marana High School student was suspended after a monitoring system flagged his email draft that humorously suggested a mass shooting.
The unsent message read: ‘GANG, GANG, GIMME A BETTER GRADE OR I SHOOT UP DA SKOOL HOMIE.’
He also included: ‘Mister, mister, I want to date your sister,’ and ‘Skibidi toilet my grade is in the toilet.’
The top-performing sophomore had drafted the email to send to one of his teachers about a bad grade.
He explained to his mother, Karalee Merrill, that he began writing jokes when he felt uncomfortable about asking his teacher for clarity, as reported by The Arizona Republic.
Karalee had been shocked to learn her son had composed the message after she was contacted by school, which suspended the student over the threat.
The monitoring program, part of the policy required for parental consent annually, caught the draft quickly on students’ Chromebooks. This policy clearly states that students might face suspension if they misuse school equipment.
Karalee and Curtis Merrill (pictured) are suing Marana High School following their son’s suspension, asserting that he should have the ‘right to joke about school violence while at home with his mother.’
‘But there has never been anything that made me think that down to the very keystrokes,’ Karalee told The Republic.
The Merrill family discovered the monitoring system’s existence after receiving a voicemail from Principal Caitlyn Kauffman informing them of their son’s suspension the following day.
The parents tried to fight the suspension that could hurt their child’s chances of getting into the Air Force Academy – a dream of his.
NM was originally given a 10-day suspension, which was later extended to 45 days after a district hearing.
It would later be shortened to 11 days on the promise that he attend three therapy sessions, which he did.
It was eventually shortened to nine days on his record, despite him having served a total of 11 days.
The parents are now suing the school, saying the suspension violated their son’s First Amendment rights as he has a ‘right to make a joke about school violence while at home with his mother,’ their attorneys argued in the suit, viewed by Daily Mail.
The family argues NM’s threat was not credible, nor was it sent, so the school didn’t have good reasoning to believe any student faced potential harm.
They also pointed out the school allowed NM back into the school to take his PSAT, ‘after which he waited unsupervised on campus for Karalee to pick him up,’ the suit read.
He was punished after he drafted an email that read: ‘GANG, GANG, GIMME A BETTER GRADE OR I SHOOT UP DA SKOOL HOMIE.’ The unsent email was flagged in an hour by the system and was intended to go to a teacher about a bad grade
NM’s teachers also allegedly didn’t know why he had been suspended or that he had threatened the school.
Karalee also believes her son has become a ‘statistic.’
‘I’ve heard more and more about people who have been in trouble for something similar,’ she told The Republic.
‘I almost feel like my son is now a statistic to make it look like: “Hey, look at what great technology we have for stopping school shootings!” And it makes me wonder how many of these statistics are similar to my son.’
‘He’s worked hard all his academic life to be a good student. To be a good kid. He volunteers,’ she defended.
‘And to feel like none of that mattered? To feel like he can do good things his whole life, and one little mistake that he didn’t even realize was as big of a mistake as it turned out to be.’
She said her son lost trust, and her and her husband worry this mistake could hurt their son’s future, who is hoping to be valedictorian of his class.
‘Both my husband and I are former public school teachers. I get that school safety is important,’ she told the outlet. ‘Having had this experience, I’m realizing what kinds of freedoms… we’re giving up for an illusion of safety.’
His parents, Karalee and Curtis, found out about the system following their son’s next-day suspension after Principal Caitlyn Kauffman (pictured) left them a voicemail. Parents do signoff on the monitoring system in the Chromebook policy every year
More and more schools across the nation are implementing monitoring programs similar to that at Marana High School.
Fifty-two school districts or charter schools in Arizona are using monitoring programs. Programs like these have been credited with saving countless lives.
More than 250 school shootings occurred in the US during the 2024-25 school year.
Daily Mail has contacted the family and school for comment.
