Seneca Valley Finalizes School Walkout Day Plans

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA - Seneca Valley High School students will participate in the National School Walkout Wednesday with the district’s consent, superintendent Tracy Vitale said in a letter to district families.

The district’s secondary campus in Jackson Township will be closed from 10 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. on Wednesday to ensure student and staff safety during the walkout. Vitale said security will be ramped up during the event.

“As long as students maintain a peaceful walkout, demonstrate respectful behavior and return to the classroom at the designated time, no consequences are anticipated,” Vitale stated. “As noted by the National School Board Association, we are taking into consideration the difference between student conduct (leaving class unauthorized) and student expression (participating in a protest).”

The national walkout will last 17 minutes to honor the 17 people killed last month in the Parkland, Florida school shootings. Spurred by survivors of the shooting, the walkout is part of a larger effort to get stricter federal gun control legislation enacted.

Specifically, Empower, the youth branch of the Women's March that is organizing the event, wants Congress to:

• Ban assault weapons
• Require universal background checks before gun sales
• Pass a gun violence restraining order law that would allow courts to disarm people who display warning signs of violent behavior.