As PA Students Prepare To Walk Out, Some Will Face Consequences

Thousands of students are planning to walk out of their classrooms Wednesday morning as a sign of remembrance for the victims of last month's Florida school shooting, and as a call for lawmakers to take action on stricter gun laws.

The effort, called "ENOUGH: National School Walkout," begins at 10 a.m., when students from across the nation will leave their classrooms for 17 minutes. Each minute honors one of the victims killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Dozens of students from schools across the Philadelphia region are participating in the national walkout, according to organizers. (You can see a list of participating schools here.) The reception to the event from administrators has varied from district to district, with some expressing full support of the effort and others threatening discipline if students participate.

At the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District in Chester County, high school students who remain on campus and return to class after the walkout will not see any consequences. "Our goal is to provide an avenue for student expression in a safe manner," Superintendent Dr. Richard Gusick said in a statement.

But things are different at the Council Rock School District, where administrators say students who leave the building will face disciplinary action. The Bucks County school district, which at first supported the effort, changed its stance due to safety issues, administrators said. They have set up areas inside the building for students to participate in a class walkout, which the superintendent now says must be "non-political."

The shift in attitude towards the event caused a buzz Tuesday among district parents, with several expressing outrage over the sudden change in attitude from administrators. A news article posted to the Newtown Patch Facebook page on the revised position received more than 80 comments (see below).

"What a way to support the students in their effort to remember the Parkland victims and their fight for gun reform. Who got to you? Cowards!," one resident wrote in reaction.

A similar situation is unfolding at the Spring-Ford Area School District in Royersford, where Superintendent David Goodin said students must remain in the building for a "quiet remembrance" in the school's auditorium.

However, according to both the National Student Walkout and Spring-Ford student leaders, the demonstration is meant to be much more than a memorial.

"We planned on having our walkout be about guns, but the school would like us to only talk about policy at a private after school event, and take the gun control aspect out of the walkout," a Spring-Ford student committee representative told Patch. "The national message is supposed to be about having our voices heard, and it feels like the school is silencing not only us, but the issues."

Whether or not students defy administrators and leave the building at schools where it is not being permitted will play out this morning. Check back to Patch as we bring you updates.

On Twitter, #Nationalwalkoutday is trending Wednesday morning.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images