Here’s Why Montclair HS Students Held Climate Change Walkout

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Hundreds of Montclair High School students flexed their political muscles during a mass walkout on climate change earlier this month, the second major student-led rally to take place at the school in the span of a year.

Hazel Togman, one of the student organizers who spearheaded the Montclair protest on March 15, recently told Patch that the rally was held in solidarity with the worldwide Youth Climate Strikes and the Fridays For Future movement.

Students protested against the “lack of action towards the climate crisis,” Togman stated.

Togman said that the walkout at Montclair High School began at 10 a.m. at the school’s amphitheater, and involved about 500 students from all grades.

Several people captured video and photo footage of the massive rally outside MHS (story continues below).

Around 11 a.m., most of the students returned to class. However, about 75 of them chose to continue the walkout all day, marching to the Montclair Town Hall on Claremont Avenue.

Other student organizers included Saumaya Schneider, Gabby McLoughlin and Haley Winstead, according to Togman.

“School officials informed us that students who participated in the walkout would receive a cut on their attendance, but no punishments,” Togman said.

Here's why protesters rallied on March 15, according to national organizers:

"We, the youth of America, are striking because the science says we have just a few years to transform our energy system, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and prevent the worst effects of climate change. We are striking because our world leaders have yet to acknowledge, prioritize, or properly address our climate crisis. We are striking because marginalized communities across our nation —especially communities of color, disabled communities, and low- income communities— are already disproportionately impacted by climate change. We are striking because if the social order is disrupted by our refusal to attend school, then the system is forced to face the climate crisis and enact change. With our futures at stake, we call for radical legislative action to combat climate change and its countless detrimental effects on the American people. We are striking for the Green New Deal, for a fair and just transition to a 100% renewable economy, and for ending the creation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure. Additionally, we believe the climate crisis should be declared a national emergency because we are running out of time."

The March 15 climate rally isn’t the only recent student walkout to take place at Montclair High School.

In March 2018, students at Montclair High School participated in the national #ENOUGH rallies, which were timed to coincide with the one-month anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Student organizers in Montclair said that the walkout at Montclair High School was a way to "show their support for the Parkland students and for Common Sense Gun Legislation.”

• See related article: Montclair Students Hold School Walkout On Gun Violence (VIDEOS)

According to the ACLU of New Jersey, school officials are not allowed to prohibit or censor speech or press activities based on their content, unless it falls within one of two exceptions:

• "It is foreseeable that the speech will cause substantial disruption to the operation of the school"
• "It is too lewd or vulgar for the school audience"

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