Shortly before 3 p.m. today the Cobb County School District issued the following statement about planned walkouts on March 14 that include those organized by students at four East Cobb high schools to protest gun violence:
The safety of our students and employees is the top priority of the Cobb County School District, and the success of our students is our one goal.
We are aware of the desire of some students to participate in a demonstration of empathy for the lives lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. The Cobb County School District leadership will work with students to identify the best methods to accomplish this demonstration of empathy without interruption of normal school operation, which is a policy violation and potentially jeopardizes student and staff safety.
The Cobb County School District does not support or endorse walkouts/protests that cause interruption to normal school operations.
Students who choose to disrupt the normal operation of a school may be subject to consequences in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct.
Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale, who received an open letter from the East Cobb student organizers earlier this week, met with high school principals earlier today in a scheduled school district leadership meeting that included a discussion about about how to handle the protests.
Cobb schools spokesman John Stafford told East Cobb News that while the district is “not trying to stop the students from doing something positive” to honor the Florida shooting victims and protest gun violence, “what they don’t have the right to do is disrupt the normal school day.”
He said the decision was made by senior school district leadership and that the issue of school safety was a paramount factor.
At least 500 Walton students have signed up for what’s being called the National School Walkout, and a total of several hundred more have done likewise at Lassiter, Pope and Wheeler.
The protests are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 10:17 on March 14, the one-month anniversary of the Florida shootings, and could include students leaving school buildings and gathering outside. The 17-minute duration is for the 17 students and staff at the Florida school who were killed by a gunman. A former student has been arrested for their deaths.
“There is a proper way to do it, and it’s not to disrupt the school day,” Stafford said.
At a Cobb school board work session the day after the shootings, Ragsdale explained the challenges of security at high schools, and said the district would conduct unannounced “code red” drills to assess preparations for the possibility of an active shooter situation.
Stafford said that a number of alternatives were suggested at today’s meeting, including a candlelight vigil and other commemorations before the school day, and that discussions about those and other possibilities will continue.
The Cobb decision was announced on Wednesday shortly after students at Dalton High School were locked down, and then evacuated, after gunfire was heard inside a classroom building. News reports indicate a teacher has been taken into custody peacefully, and that the teacher barricaded himself in a classroom and fired his gun through a window.
The AJC also reported Wednesday a student at South Cobb High School has been arrested for threatening violence at that school.
Stafford would not specify what type of disciplinary action might be taken if Cobb students walk out as they have indicated, since the district handles student discipline cases on a case-by-case basis.
Although Marietta City Schools and DeKalb schools have said they would allow student protests, Stafford said Cobb “is not alone in what we are doing.”
Hannah Andress, an organizer of the Lassiter protest, told East Cobb News that she and her fellow students are going ahead with the protest as planned, and that she was told by Principal Chris Richie today that they will be given a “safe space” to conduct their walkout.
She said they will be having their protest on the home side of the Lassiter football stadium that will be accessible only by one entrance and exit point. Andress said students and staff will have to show their ID card. The school’s resource officer will be there “and we are looking into the feasibility of getting more security.
“We are working in close contact with administration and student council to ensure student safety and participation,” Andress told us.
She also forwarded to us the message she sent Ragsdale after the Cobb schools decision was announced:
“Thank you for providing me with teachers and resources for my education. However, your statement will not deter us. We will stand as a united front to protest the inaction of our government. We will not be a statistic and our voices will be heard so that 100 years down the line students will not have to dry their tears wondering where in history they lost their voice.”
Walton organizer Lily Lefter said the protests at her school also will go on, and she and her walkout co-hosts will be meeting with Principal Judy McNeill Thursday morning. Here’s what else she told us:
“We are of course a bit frustrated with the Cobb County statement because their primary ‘concern’ with endorsing/supporting the walkouts was the issue of safety. However, we are participating in the walk to stand up for gun law reform for our safety. If anything, we’re even more determined now. We aren’t going to be stopped by the threat of potential disciplinary actions because we are peacefully walking out to show respect to those affected as well as walk out because the 17 people who died cannot.”
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