When students walked out of Lakewood High School Wednesday morning to support the 17 victims of the Parkland shooting, their principal praised them.
“Given us an opportunity to reflect on the strength of the voices of the students in our classrooms and to respect them as future leaders,” Principal Keith Ahearn said.
But in the Willoughby-Eastlake District, the walkouts were seen as unexcused absences similar to cutting class.
“It’s a disruption of the school day and it’s also unsafe,” Superintendent Stephen Thompson said. “We’re not going to disrupt the school day and risk safety for every time students feel like they want to walk out to school.”
Tonja Siferd‘s daughter was among 148 students who walked out of Willoughby Middle School and received a detention, her first ever.
“They should not be penalized for doing something that they believe in,” Siferd said. “I said ‘you’re not serving a detention…you did not do anything wrong.’”
Superintendent Thompson said students were to allowed walk out last month and observe a moment of silence Wednesday.
Most of those who left from 10:00 to 10:17 missed two periods and received two detentions as a result.
Thompson said they could get that down to one if they wrote a letter on school violence and gave it to their principal.
In all, more than 200 students walked out across the district: 148 at Willoughby Middle School, 38 at Willowick Middle School, 20 at Willoughby South High School and 4 at Eastlake North High School.