South Plainfield To Suspend Up To 75 Students Who Walked Out

A New Jersey school district says up to 75 students who participated in the National Walkout Day will be suspended. And at least one parent says she has been notified already that her child was suspended.

This may be the largest punishment at any New Jersey school district connected to National Walkout Day on Wednesday, when thousands of students left class to protest gun violence.

Many schools actually organized the protests themselves. Others, such as Sayreville, didn't suspend students even though they prohibited them from walking out. Read more: Sayreville Student Defies Order, Schools Close As Thousands Walk

Superintendent Noreen Lishak made the announcement at a South Plainfield Board of Education meeting on Thursday night, according to mycentraljersey.com. The students who walked out will receive one day of in-school suspension.

One mother of a student in the district told mycentraljersey.com that her daughter will be suspended and said she was informed of the decision in a phone call from the high school's guidance office.

"We received a call from guidance informing us that our child will be suspended," Maggie Jimenez told the publication.

The discipline will not have an affect on a student's status in the National Honor Society and students will be able to request the suspension to be removed from their record under certain circumstances, according to mycentraljersey.com. She did say: "Although some do not agree on the logistics and consequences for the walk out, I have to take the time to commend these students for their strong commitment to their cause."

"These students held strong to their convictions knowing the consequences for leaving the building," she said, according to the report.

Approximately 75 South Plainfield High School students, according to Tapinto.net, with many carrying signs and wearing orange as they walked out of the school building and headed up Lake Street.

The report said they also chanted "We are Students, We are Change" as they made their way toward Plainfield Avenue to the middle school before heading back to the high school and returning to class.

The decision was drawing sharp reactions on social media.

Prior to the walkout, Ronnie Spring, principal of the high school, sent a letter to parents saying "safety is the paramount concern for the South Plainfield School District."

The principal met several times with student government leaders to discuss the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. and to "discuss student reaction to the event, as well as student safety concerns at South Plainfield High School."

"Students and teachers will be using March 14th as a meaningful and teachable moment that focuses on honoring the memory of the seventeen victims of the Parkland shooting. We will also discuss the role each person can play in creating positive change through engagement in the political process," the principal wrote.

The letter also says that "any student that engages in an activity that disrupts other students’ learning, puts students or others safety at risk, cuts class or leaves the building will receive an appropriate consequence as outlined in the student handbook."

Here is a video of the walkout:

Google Earth photo