The possibility of receiving an unexcused absence on her attendance record isn’t going to deter Abby Fowler from leaving her seat Wednesday morning and marching out of her classroom to her high school’s softball fields.
She and a group of her classmates at Baldwin High School are participating with thousands of other students across the country in “National School Walkout Day,” a coordinated demonstration meant to honor the 17 students and faculty members shot and killed at a Florida high school last month, and to call for stricter gun control laws.
“I do like the activist movement with kids going on right now, with them finally trying to find their voice,” said Abby, a sophomore. “I also think it’s respectful to the students in Parkland.”
Since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, similar demonstrations have sprung up on school campuses around the country, but Wednesday’s will be the first coordinated effort. School leaders are bracing for the event -— which is spear-headed by the organizers of the Women’s March — and finding ways to let students exercise their First Amendment rights without disrupting the school day or pulling administrators into the raging debate about gun control.
Nationally, the response from school districts has been mixed, with some threatening to suspend students and others promising to incorporate the walkout into a civics lesson. Across the Pittsburgh-area, dozens of students plan to participate, and have coordinated with their school districts to make their demonstrations meaningful as well as safe and productive.
In a letter sent to parents last week, Baldwin-Whitehall Superintendent Randal Lutz said that Wednesday will be “business as usual” at the high school and students who leave class could be counted as absent and unexcused.
“It’s important to communicate that while the district supports student desire for advocacy and self-expression, activities that have the potential to create a hazardous condition or negatively affect the educational environment of the schools will not be endorsed or permitted,” the letter read.
But Ms. Fowler, who estimated that a third of the school’s student body plans to participate in the walkout, said the organizers communicated with the superintendent to avoid being suspended or given detention for walking out of class for 17 minutes.
“I don’t think it would matter to me personally because I would rather do something that I strongly believe in rather than just sit there,” she said.
That sentiment was echoed by student organizers at other schools across Allegheny County.
A group of Deer Lakes High School students plan to hold a silent sit-in in the school auditorium — in lieu of a walkout — to show solidarity with the Florida students while keeping students safe, junior Katrina Taliani said. Deer Lakes’ administration has been supportive of the demonstration, she said.
Students will have access to note cards to jot down their school safety questions and concerns, which will be shared with school leadership, said junior Mara Van Phiel, one of the organizers.
“We don’t want to do it just to do it,” she said. “We want our voices heard in a way that’s going to be received well, that’s not going to create more fighting. This will be a way that we can come together to show that we’re all on the same page and all want the same thing.”
At North Hills High School, students plan to hold a walkout, but not everyone is on board with the demonstration. Junior Marisa Vaccaro said she’ll be staying in class during the demonstration because she believes “in the right to bear arms.”
At Gateway High School in Monroeville, some students plan to walk out at 10 a.m., chant, and wear themed t-shirts and bracelets, senior Brendan Majocha said.
Demonstrations are planned at several locations across the Pittsburgh Public Schools district, including walkouts at Allderdice High School, Greenfield K-8 and Brookline K-8. Students at Brashear High School are planning a silent demonstration in the auditorium and students at CAPA and Sci-tech plan to form a human chain around their school buildings.
The district encouraged school principals to work with student organizers to ensure that the demonstrations were safe and conducted on school grounds, said district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. Letters about the plans at those schools were sent home to parents, and parents at schools where no walkout plans have been made were also made aware.
“We support students constitutional rights to speech, but we also first and foremost want to ensure student safety,” Ms. Pugh said.
Mt. Lebanon School District Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer sent a letter to parents Monday, saying the district will work with the Mt. Lebanon Police Department to ensure student safety during the walkout.
“The Mt. Lebanon School District, respecting the rights of our students to peacefully assemble, will allow any middle or high school student who wishes to participate in this event to do so,” he wrote. “We equally understand and respect that not every student will choose, or have parent permission, to participate. The two can occur concurrently in a meaningful and constructive manner.”
Elizabeth Behrman: Lbehrman@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1590 or @Ebehrman. Matt McKinney: Mmckinney@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1944 or @Mmckinne17. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
First Published: March 13, 2018, 11:21 a.m.
Updated: March 13, 2018, 11:23 a.m.
