By now you are probably aware that many students across the country plan to stage a walkout on March 14th at 10:00 am as a protest against school violence as well as a remembrance of the 17 students who died in the recent school shooting in Florida. As you can imagine, this presents a lot of opportunities as well as problems for schools.
I have had the chance to review and discuss potential options with other school leaders across the region. To that end, I wanted to let you know how we plan to deal with the situation and what the expectations are of our students, faculty, and staff.
To begin with, many of the students feel very passionate about being in solidarity with other students across the country, however, some do not. While I want to acknowledge those who want to walk, it is of equal importance to protect the rights of those who do not. My approach to all of this has been one of keeping the students safe while being pragmatic about the reality of dealing with hundreds of students, and their parents, in terms of safety, discipline, and academic consequences. Here are the main points:
- Students plan to walk out on March 14th at 10:00 am for 17 minutes. This is at the tail end of 1st Block and the opening of 3rd
- I am working with the students as to where they will go, but it will be a well-supervised area on campus. They absolutely may not leave campus.
- Security and the Richmond Police Department will be present.
- Teachers will remain in their classes if they teach during 3rd They will take roll and record absences of any student who does not make it to class at the beginning of 3rd. Teachers and staff will not participate in the walk-out. This is a student event. I will pull a few teachers who are off during 3rd Block to help me supervise and keep the students safe.
- Teachers may begin instruction at the beginning of 3.
- Students should return to class by 10:20 or so. When they arrive in class, they will be marked as Tardy Unexcused. Any work missed by a student who participates in the walk-out may be made up with no penalty, but the Unexcused Tardy will be counted toward any potential exam exemption. Current policy allows for 2 Unexcused Tardies before a student loses his or her exam exemption.
As always, please email or call me with any questions.
Dr. Robert Lowerre, Director
