At Walton High School walkout, parents and families offer support

Walton High School Walkout, National School Walkout
East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker

As a television news helicopter buzzed overhead, several dozen parents, family members and friends of Walton High School walkout students gathered Wednesday morning to show their support on National School Walkout day.

The group of about 30-40 people huddled in brisk temperatures at the back entrance to Walton, near the football field where walkout students were planning their protest, holding signs and talking quietly among themselves.

At 10 a.m., they grew quiet as the names of the 17 victims of the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., were pronounced. A moment of silence followed, and the group waved to students walking to and from the main school building, and to those who remained inside.

Walton High School Walkout
A solemn reading of the names of the 17 victims of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting a month ago today.

Walkout activity was not visible from their gathering spot on Bill Murdock Road and Pine Road. Motorists were stopped by officers patrolling the entrance to the back parking lot.

Initial reports were that only a few hundred Walton students walked out, far fewer than the more than 2,000 students protest organizers said had signed up online. Around 100 or so students each at Lassiter and Pope reportedly participated in walkouts.

UPDATE: Around 12:30 p.m. today, John Adams, the deputy superintendent of Cobb schools, posted this message on the Cobb County School Unofficial Community Page on Facebook:

In short, only a small fraction of our students engaged in protests, mainly at a relatively small number of schools. Over 99% of the students in CCSD behaved appropriately and did not violate school rules in any way. Over 90% of our schools did not experience any significant disruption. Less than 1% of our students engaged in some sort of protest.

In total, less than 1,000 students engaged in a brief protest out of approximately 112,000. Walton, for example, only had about 250 students walk out, which was far less than the 2,300 number that had been recently forecast for that location.

In general, nearly all of our students complied with the school rules and worked successfully with our principals to find non-disruptive ways to express any concerns. Congratulations to both our local school administrators and to our students for handling this situation so well.

The gates to the front entrance of Walton were locked, and no visitors were allowed earlier in the morning for a memorial event approved by the school administration.

Walton High School Walkout
No vehicles were allowed near the main Walton High School entrance after the school day began.

At nearby Pope High School, several Cobb Police vehicles blocked the lone entrance to the school on Hembree Road, and uniformed officers approached motorists seeking to enter.

Pope High School was off-limits to outsiders Wednesday.

The National School Walkout was observed across the country on the first-month anniversary of the Parkland, Fla., shootings, and students at Walton, Lassiter, Pope and other East Cobb high schools have been vocal and visible in expressing their desire to do something about school safety.

Officially, however, the Cobb County School District did not support the walkout, and threatened students who did with unspecified disciplinary action. School officials cited safety and a desire not to disrupt classes for their decision.

Various news outlets and social media posts were reporting that students at some schools in East Cobb and elsewhere were being strongly encouraged and possibly even physically forced to remain in their school buildings.

In response, a message posted at the Sprayberry Athletics Facebook page said 150 students gathered in the school cafeteria at 10 a.m. and staged a 17-minute peaceful observation in honor of the Parkland victims, “but at no time did students attempt to leave the building, nor were they locked in their classrooms and prevented from exiting.”

Jane Mathers, the grandmother of Walton senior Madeleine Deisen, one of the walkout leaders, said she doesn’t believe the safety explanation given by Cobb schools.

“I don’t believe that at all,” said Mathers, who was part of the supporters group, adding that the school district’s threat of student discipline “is a very big disappointment.

“What I support is action that will cause change and that will protect students,” said Mathers, who lives here and part of the year in her hometown of Haddonfield, N.J., where she said a school-endorsed observation was scheduled Wednesday at 10 a.m., the designated walkout time, at a school football field.

Related coverage

The National School Walkout also was planned as a demonstration in favor of gun control. Few of the signs at the Walton parent gathering specifically referred to that issue, but many had signs and wore buttons saying “Not One More.” Most expressed their disappointment with the Cobb schools decision and encouraged students to get involved in what they believe in.

Mathers acknowledged that gun-control alone isn’t the solution to the problem of school shootings. “There is no one answer to the problem,” she said, but added that it’s a shame “this particular school district and this particular school” has taken the stance it has.

Before the school day Wednesday, Walton administrators, teachers, students and invited guests gathered for a commemoration of the school shootings.

The event wasn’t open to the public, and East Cobb News was denied a coverage request. But we were allowed to have a program from the service. It indicated that the names of the Parkland victims were read aloud, and participants had an opportunity to lay flowers and visit a letter-writing table to leave their tributes.

At the end of the event, trumpeters Daniel Hudadoff and Duncan Farquahar played “Taps.”

The event was organized by the Walton Principal’s Leadership Committee, Student Government Association and other student groups. On the back of the program, it read “Thank you for supporting the students and keeping us safe,” listing Principal Judy McNeill and the Walton administration, Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale and Cobb school board member Scott Sweeney.

“We are pleased to let you know we had a beautiful day today,” the Walton administration said in a message to parents Wednesday afternoon, detailing the morning service that was “followed by a very calm day and classes proceeded as usual.”

The message concluded that “a large police presence” accompanied the students walking out, “and as typical of Walton students they thanked the officers for keeping them safe.”

One of the Walton students who walked out is sophomore Ema Barber. She told East Cobb News she left her biology class at 9:55 and signed a sign-out sheet, then walked to the stadium area.

“I was a little bit anxious because I didn’t know how many people would show up,” she said. But she the walkout was rather uneventful. There were some police and security blocking doors, but Barber said she was not stopped.

She said the Cobb schools estimate of around 250 students walking out sounded right to her, and figured the lower turnout than expected was because students weren’t sure what the consequences might be for their actions.

At 10 a.m. the names of the Parkland victims were read aloud as the students huddled on the football field. There also was contact information posted about elected representatives, including U.S. Rep. Karen Handel, and Barber said some of the students were going to call her office about gun control and school safety issues.

She said students were allowed to return to the classroom without any incidents that she knew about. Cobb schools had an early release day Wednesday, and Walton and other high schools wrapped up their school day at 11:30 a.m.

Barber said while she supports some gun control measures, the importance of the walkout was to begin to raise awareness that she hopes will continue. She also said she’s not sure what kind of suspension or punishment she may receive, but “I’m not too worried about it.”

The message from the Walton administration sent out Wednesday made no reference to any possible disciplinary action.


 

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Walton principal: Extra security requested, alternate events slated for walkout day

UPDATED Thursday, March 8, 1:33 p.m.

Since we posted this, Judy McNeill has sent out a letter to the Walton community, indicating that a pre-school memorial observation on March 14 will begin at 7:50 a.m. and will include the following:

  • A moment of silence and reflection for the victims and their families.
  • A reading of the names of the victims.
  • Tables set up to receive letters written by students to local representatives and officials expressing student concerns and ideas for change.

At this event, she wrote, “All students are invited to participate to express their condolences for the lives lost and express any concerns and ideas for change.”

The alternate event is being organized by the Walton Principal’s Leadership Committee.

McNeill also wrote that for students who walk out at 10 a.m., “this is an unexcused absence and will count against incentive.”

ORIGINAL POST: Wednesday, March 7, 3:06 p.m.:

After we posted earlier this week about planned student gun-control walkouts March 14 at Walton High School, Principal Judy McNeill is telling us that another group of students will be holding a separate event before school on that day.

Walton principal Judy McNeil
Walton High School Principal Judy McNeill

She also said she’s asking for additional police support on what’s being called National Student Walkout Day.

In an interview with East Cobb News, McNeill said several of the students who met with her last week, including some in Walton’s current senior class, will be commemorating the 17 victims of the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting before the school day next Wednesday, as she had suggested.

Other students have said they want to “walk out ” of their classes for 17 minutes, starting at 10 a.m., in accordance with the national protest, which the Cobb County School District does not support.

“We need to have an activity that will be endorsed by the whole school,” McNeill said.

She said the students who are meeting before school next Wednesday will be holding up individual signs and conducting other observances in the memory of the Florida victims.

Those students favoring the walkout say they have gotten RSVPs from 2,300 of the nearly 2,700 students at Walton, but McNeill said it’s her understanding the number of students who have signed up online is about 1,000 students.

They had been tentatively planning to walk to the Walton football stadium, a move school officials have discouraged. McNeill said the stadium area, known as Raider Valley, is usually unlocked during the school day.

Students who would enter the stadium area would be doing so “not with any school support,” McNeill said, although they may have to show their IDs to get in. “I’m very, very worried about their safety.”

“They could do something that would be so much more meaningful than to get up and walk,” she said, adding that outsiders will not be allowed on campus.

The district has said previously that students who walk out would be violating the student code of conduct pertaining to disruption of the school day. The CCSD cited safety reasons for its decision.

All 16 Cobb high school principals were meeting with district staff today in a regular, previously scheduled meeting on a number of topics. The possibility of deciding punitive action was expected to be raised, but McNeill said she had no indication what those actions might be.

Walton students are in 4th period classes at the 10 o’clock hour. McNeill said she’s had discussions with teachers about “class-appropriate” activities for students who stay in their classrooms, and there also could be a school-wide message relayed on the intercom during that time as well.

“We have lots of ideas floating around,” she said.

Walton had two code-red drills last week, and she said they were both successful. Getting used to the new four-story classroom building that opened in August has taken some time. After a fire drill last fall, she admitted that “we had to learn some things.”

McNeill said “we spend a lot of time” preparing the school community on safety measures, including teachers having to watch videos on active shooter situations.

Principals at other Cobb schools also are beginning to communicate with their students and parents about alternate walkout day activities.

On Monday, Sprayberry High School Principal Joseph Sharp sent a letter to parents saying he’s working with students “to identify an appropriate way” and with parental groups “to create non-disruptive activities and opportunities” to honor the Florida victims.

“I cannot support or endorse allowing our students, your children, to participate in walking out of school which could place them into a potentially dangerous situation,” Sharp wrote.

 

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Walton High School walkout leaders say nearly 2,300 students have signed up for protest

Walton High School

The organizers of a Walton High School walkout in favor of gun control say nearly 2,300 students have signed up for a planned protest on March 14.

That’s an overwhelming majority of the students at Walton, the second-largest high school in the Cobb County School District by enrollment, with nearly 2,700 students.

Natalie Carlomagno, a Walton sophomore, said in an interview with East Cobb News that an online petition to gauge possible student participation in the event got many more signatures after Cobb school officials announced last week they would not support the demonstrations.

“After that statement, our RSVPs skyrocketed,” Carlomagno said. “I think people will go through with it.”

The students are planning to walk out of their classes for 17 minutes, starting at 10 a.m., on March 14, in the memory of the 17 students and staff gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. last month.

Cobb school officials have cited safety reasons and disruptions of the school day for opposing this action, and said students could be subject to disciplinary action for violations of the student code of conduct.

Carlomagno said she and the other Walton organizers initially wanted the protest to take place in front of the school, under the flagpole, but there isn’t enough room.

She also said the logistics of the protest are also up in the air after she and other organizers met last week with Walton Principal Judy McNeill, who told them she was disappointed that they wanted to walk out.

Carlomagno said McNeill suggested the demonstration take place before school on the walkout day.

“That’s unacceptable,” Carlomagno said, insisting that the scheduled 10 a.m. walkout was the best way to show solidarity with the national protests.

Another suggestion was to allow the walkout to take place at the Walton football stadium, but Carlomagno said school officials didn’t want that.

(We’ve left a message with Walton officials and will update with a response.)

On Wednesday Cobb high school superintendents are getting together with high school-level district staff. Cobb school district spokesman John Stafford said it’s a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss a number of issues and topics.

“Will [the protests] be a topic of conversation? It will be hard to think it won’t be,” he said.

The district has not commented further on the walkouts except to reiterate the need to prioritize safety. Stafford said limiting the presence on high school campuses to students and staff is paramount.

While parents can come and pick up their children at any time, he said, others who may want to come to a school, especially individuals and organizations with an interest in the protest, will not be permitted.

“That’s part of our safety concern” about the walkouts, he said. “We’re not going to open up the campus to anyone who wants to come to campus.”

Stafford said there have been some suggestions from those in support of the walkouts that they would be no different than fire drills.

But having thousands of students walk out at the same time “most certainly is different,” he said.

“It’s not the same thing at all, from a security and safety standpoint.”

Carlomagno, who’s 15, said the Walton protest is to include a moment of silence for the Parkland victims, as well as a voter registration drive, and to let students know who their elected officials are. Although she and most Walton students are too young to vote, she said it’s important to let them know “what they can do to become more politically active.”

The shootings also hit home for Carlomagno, who grew up in Broward County, Fla., where Parkland is located. She said the similarities of Walton to the Parkland school, both with large suburban student bodies, have been mentioned by her friends.

“I keep hearing the conversations,” Carlomagno said, adding that she was reassured about safety measures at Walton after two “code red” drills were conducted last week.

 

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Cobb schools oppose student anti-gun protests; vow disciplinary action for those who disrupt classes

Cobb schools gun protest
Students at Walton High School, along with others at Lassiter, Pope and Wheeler, are planning to walk out of classes for 17 minutes on March 14.

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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East Cobb students plan National School Walkout protest on gun control

A student-led effort to honor the victims of the Feb. 14 school shootings in Florida and demand gun control legislation is being embraced by students at four East Cobb high schools for what’s being called the National School Walkout on March 14.

Students at Lassiter, Pope, Walton and Wheeler high schools have sent a letter to Cobb County School Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and his executive cabinet stating their intention to walk out of their classes for 17 minutes on that day.

That’s in honor of the 17 students and staff killed by a gunman at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. A former student at the school has been arrested for the shootings.

The protests will begin at 10 a.m. and continue to 10:17 a.m. on March 14, which is a Wednesday. The walkout grew out of the Women’s March Network, and invites students nationwide to organize their own protests.

Lily Lefter, a junior at Walton, said in an e-mail to East Cobb News that she and seven other Walton students organized a protest for their school. A member of that group later participated in a groupchat with the Pope, Lassiter and Wheeler students to prepare a joint message.

In their letter to Ragsdale, which was signed by organizers at each of the four schools, they wrote that:

“The students at our high school will not be a statistic. Because this directly affects our education, our friends, our teachers, our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, and our entire community we will not sit idly by waiting for lawmakers to decide policy change.

“As a collective group, we, the students of Lassiter, Pope, Walton, and Wheeler, have formed an alliance across the county to inform you of our decision to stand united and walk out of class for 17 minutes. We have passionately embraced the call for smart and nonpartisan gun control laws to be enacted which has consequently begun the organization of the walkout across Cobb County.”

Cobb schools have not announced a policy decision for the protest. Over the weekend Marietta City Schools said it would not discipline students who took part in protests, along with others in metro Atlanta.

Lefter said the students have not heard back from officials at Cobb schools, which resumed this week after last week’s winter break. She said Walton students e-mailed Principal Judy McNeill last week and they would like to set up a meeting if they don’t hear back by Wednesday.

Lefter said more than 500 Walton students have signed up on the protest page in the five days since it was created.

She also said the Lassiter administration “has endorsed the walkout,” and she understands that Pope administration is in the process of setting up a meeting with students.

Lefter said she got involved because she’s always been vocal about politics, “and, particularly for something as significant and relevant as gun control:”

“I feel it is my duty as a citizen to not only send my condolences and respects to the victims and families of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but also to take action to push for policy change. In addition to walking out, my fellow hosts and I are planning to have people make calls to their legislators in order to take it to the next level to show that we are voters, and if we’re not 18 now, we will be come this next election, and we will not support nor let stand the complacency to the lack of comprehensive gun regulation in America.”

The day after the Florida shootings, Ragsdale announced at a Cobb Board of Education meeting that the district would be conducting unannounced “code red” drills at selected high schools to assess readiness for active shooter situations.

Every school in the Cobb district is required to have a code red drill each semester.

The National School Walkout group also was planning a similar protest for April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.

 

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