Opinion
School Climate & Safety Opinion

Why We Didn’t Allow the Students in Our District to Participate in the Walkout

Some students in Bellefonte, Pa., chose to honor the Parkland shooting victims by defying their district
By Michelle Saylor — March 21, 2018 4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Education leaders face challenges every day. We examine them through the lens of opportunity and strive to be proactive in solving problems before they materialize. We lead to serve, to build capacity, and to nurture hopes, dreams, and our children’s futures. Yet, we live in a time where we wake each day to a barrage of formidable responsibilities that politics and divisive behaviors only amplify. Among those are frequent acts of school violence. Many of us agonized—and continue to do so—following the Parkland school shooting, the student walkouts, and the tenuous struggle between encouraging civic activism and protecting our students’ safety. These gnaw at the essence of my being.

Faced with these challenges, we create opportunities; we shift paradigms. Despite our best efforts to make the best decisions, we will never be right in everyone’s eyes. That is the school leader’s reality. Opinions surrounding the March 14th student walkout were varied. They represented a wide range of values and beliefs. But our school district runs on consensus, so it was important to me to make the decision about the walkout together with my district colleagues. We wanted to remain true to our priorities: school safety and the education of our students.

On March 5th, we sent home a letter to the parents and guardians of the 846 students in our district’s one high school, since these were primarily the students who would be walking out. We made it clear that if students chose to exit the building, they would face consequences as defined by our district’s code of conduct. And these would be the same consequences they would face for leaving the building on any other school day.

We made this decision for our district out of a concern for school safety. We were concerned about sending students outside at a specific time—the same time across the nation for all school walkouts. We were concerned that our students could be targets for someone who might do something extreme. After drafting our plan, we received a general guidance letter from our state department of education on the walkout. As it turned out, our plan aligned with the guidance: Meet with student leaders, prioritize safety, make this a teachable moment, communicate with stakeholders, articulate consequences for those who choose to walk out, and ensure students are respectful of the range of opinions.

When it came to last week’s walkout, each district leader employed the best strategy for the community that he or she serves. And all of us did this with our students’ best interests as our guiding tenet. No two school districts are the same, and no one plan fits the expectations of every community.

Despite our best efforts to make the best decisions, [school leaders] will never be right in everyone’s eyes."

On the day of the march, the range of student responses to our district’s decision varied widely. Almost 75 percent of the student body chose to remain in class. Some of them told their high school principal that they wanted to stay “in honor of the students who were killed because they can no longer go to classes.” A little more than 100 students attended a local career and technical institute, and some of those students participated in a 17-minute event in the cafeteria.

But there were also roughly 40 students who didn’t attend school that day. And another 40 students sent texts, emails, or called their legislators to voice their ideas and concerns during a planned event in the high school theater.

The administration held conversations with students on a number of occasions prior to March 14th. We listened to the students’ ideas, and they became a part of the planning process. Many voiced their concerns about safety during the walkout. They also suggested alternatives, including specific acts of kindness. They would ask their peers to make 17 new friends, say 17 positive words to others, or do 17 acts of kindness.

But we also had students who chose to walk out—56 of them. During their walkout, they read aloud the biographies of the 17 students and staff members who were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. They shared their feelings and had a moment of silence.

I believe that the students who chose to walk out learned the act of civil disobedience. It is thoughtful, conscious, and makes a strong point, but it also has consequences. We are all held accountable for how we conduct ourselves within our families, communities, organizations, or for a civic purpose. Our students learned how to advocate for themselves. They spoke up, but they also accepted their detentions.

Following the walkout, a number of our high school students told their principal that they felt the administration “supported the rights of the students to peacefully protest.” They also demonstrated that they understood the complexity of the administration’s decision-making process. “You upheld that right with dignity, but you also upheld the integrity of your job and your duty to protect the students, and we find that as being one of the most honorable things one could do,” they told the principal.

These are divisive and confusing times; however, our students have a solid grasp of how complex things are right now. As education leaders, it is our responsibility to empower all of our young people. This was a learning moment for all of us. I can’t help but believe that because of our young people our future is bright.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Some Students Welcome Cellphone Restrictions. Here's Why
To curb distractions in class, an increasing number of schools are implementing stricter cellphone policies.
3 min read
A member of the Jim Hill High School Choir uses her cellphone to take a photograph on Jan. 3, 2023.
An increasing number of schools are putting policies in place to restrict student cellphone use on campus.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP
School Climate & Safety What the Research Says Restrictions on Suspending Students From School Show Evidence of Being Effective
New research suggests restrictions on exclusionary discipline can work with support.
5 min read
Danny Perez, a 7th grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, Calif., faces a court of his peers for getting involved in a fight. Kristy Treewater, the school’s assistant principal, sits by his side to monitor the student-run session.
Danny Perez, a 7th grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, Calif., faces a court of his peers in 2012 for getting involved in a fight. Kristy Treewater, the school’s assistant principal, sits next to him. Interventions like these, called "restorative justice," have gained popularity as an alternative to suspensions.
Sarah Rice for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Teachers With Guns: District by District, a Push to Arm Educators Is Growing
The number of districts with armed educators is rising. An inside look at one of them.
12 min read
Educators with the Benjamin Logan Local School District receive training from the Logan County Sheriff's office to join the district's armed response team in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on June 26, 2023.
Educators with the Benjamin Logan Local School District receive training from the Logan County Sheriff's Office to join the district's Armed Response Team in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on June 26, 2023.
Eli Hiller for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Let's Talk About When Cars Need to Stop for School Buses
A refresher course on the rules of the road involving stopped school buses.
1 min read
Collage of school bus, cars, stop sign and a neighborhood map.
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva