Payne v. J.T.N.

Ernie Payne, the principal of Etowah High School, and the Attalla City Board of Education appeal from a final decree of the Juvenile Court of Etowah County.

The facts are not in dispute. One day in March 1989 J.T.N., a senior high school student, and two other students from Etowah High School, skipped some of their morning classes and came to school late, smelling of an alcoholic beverage.

J.T.N. admitted his conduct and Principal Payne, acting pursuant to the "Code of Student Conduct," placed him in the "alternative school"; the "alternative school" is a building on the Etowah High School…