Hundreds Of Cobb Students Get Suspension For Walkouts

MARIETTA, GA — Students who walked out of class at Cobb County schools to protest gun violence have begun to learn what their punishment will be for doing so.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that students at Walton High School, where roughly 260 students walked out one month after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., learned Thursday they will serve one day of in-school suspension.

Student organizers are urging their classmates to wear black on Tuesday, when they will serve the suspension, the AJC reported.

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The punishment is similar to what students at other Cobb County high schools have reportedly been given. A student organizer at Wheeler High School told the AJC that some, but not all, of the 11 students who walked out there received one day of in-school suspension as well.

Parents and students at North Cobb and Pope, where about 100 students walked out, have reported similar news. Pope students learned of the suspensions on Wednesday, according to the AJC.

In metro Atlanta, school districts including Atlanta Public Schoolsworked to facilitate local students' involvement in the National School Walkout on March 14. Students across America participated in the memorial protest a month after a gunman shot and killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

At many, students called for stricter gun-control laws, which they say may have prevented former student Nikolas Cruz from buying the AR-15 rifle he is accused of using in the Florida shooting. They also called for a raise in the minimum age to buy a gun and stricter background checks.

But Cobb County Schools took a hard line on the walkouts.

"The Cobb County School District does not support or endorse walkouts/protests that cause interruption to normal school operations," the district said beforehand. "Students who choose to disrupt the normal operations of a school may be subject to consequences in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct."

On March 14, students on social media reported resistance at Cobb schools to any walkout efforts, including increased security presence and claims of doors being locked. (Cobb officials say no doors were locked and that it's not even possible to do so in a way that prevents someone from leaving a school.)

When contacted by Patch, a Cobb schools spokesman did not comment in detail about the suspensions being handed out.

"Schools are in the process of administering appropriate consequences to students who violated the Student Code of Conduct," spokesman John Stafford said in an email.

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