Sayreville to discipline students who walk out

With students from schools throughout the nation expected to participate in March 14 walkouts to protest gun violence, student safety has become an issue.

Students in the Sayreville School District have been told that disciplinary action will be taken against those who walk out.

“We are going to follow our student code of conduct in terms of discipline associated with whatever action occurs," Sayreville Board of Education President Kevin Ciak said.

If students are informed by the principal that they are prohibited from walking out of school but they do, it would be considered failure to follow administrative direction, which would result in a suspension, Ciak said.

READ: Central Jersey students to walk out in solidarity with Parkland, Florida

READ: National School Walkout: Central Jersey weighs in

Students are gearing up to walk out of the classrooms Wednesday in solidarity with the Parkland, Florida, shooting survivors. The students, from schools throughout the nation, have been participating in walkouts to protest gun violence after a shooter opened fire on students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day, killing 17. Police have charged 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Since the tragedy, activists have chosen the date of March 14 — exactly one month after the shooting — for the organized nationwide student walkout. Students will leave the classrooms for 17 minutes in remembrance of the 17 killed.

Organized by Women’s March Youth EMPOWER, the event is calling for students, teachers, school administrators, parents and allies to take part the National School Walkout at 10 a.m. across every time zone. The walkout is a call to Congress to "pass legislation to keep us safe from gun violence at our schools, on our streets and in our homes and places of worship," according to the organization's website.

Sayreville Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe said the moment that the district heard about the walkout, he advised parents and staff in his weekly "Talk Sup" memo that because of safety reasons, a walkout would not be condoned, supported or encouraged.

"We are in support of and have always encouraged our students to express themselves and exercise their freedom of speech, so long as it does not cause a major disruption to the school environment and does not put them in danger," he said.

"Therefore, we believe that allowing and/or supporting them to walk out of our schools on a specific date and at a specific time is not safe and will cause a major disruption to the education of those students, as well as those who wish to remain in class learning.”

Parents can sign out students without consequence, Labbe said, adding that he encouraged one parent who wants her child to walk out to do just that.

Labbe said that the district is encouraging district schools to participate in the Sandy Hook Promise during National Youth Violence Prevention Week from March 19 to 23.

"There are a number of violence prevention activities that our students can participate in during the Sandy Hook Promise," he said. "We are looking forward to learning from our principals what they are planning for the week."

Labbe also said the district does a number of things during the year to promote violence prevention and embrace differences in others.

"We've been proactive as far as keeping our kids safe," he said. "We've been communicating to our entire school community for a long time that intelligence or the reporting of suspicious information is the number one way to prevent anything like this from happening.

"If you see something suspicious, hear something suspicious or if something just doesn't look or appear right, report it to our administration or police department."

The ACLU said that according to the district’s code of conduct, students who “leave school without authorization” are subject only to Saturday detention, not suspension.

“Sayreville’s approach is the most punitive that we’ve heard of in New Jersey,” Amol Sinha, ACLU-NJ executive director, said in a statement. “Plus, it leads to absurd results: a student who skips her last class to go to a movie will be treated more leniently than one who leaves class for 20 minutes to make a political point.

"Instead of resorting to harsh discipline, school districts should embrace moments like this to teach the importance of civic engagement and democracy.”

The ACLU-NJ said it reached out to attorneys for the Sayreville district last week, expressing concerns about its approach. Having failed to receive assurances that students’ First Amendment rights would be protected, the ACLU-NJ sent a subsequent letter to attorneys for the district on Monday.

According to the district’s attorneys, following its meeting last Tuesday evening, the Board of Education affirmed its plan to issue suspensions to students participating in the walkout, the ACLU-NJ said in the statement.

Extra police in Bridgewater

Bridgewater-Raritan High School also has expressed concerns about student safety.

"Walking out of class does not promote school safety," Principal Mark Morrell said in a statement. "In fact, it could just the opposite — put students at risk."

Morrell said the issue was discussed and "student leadership decided that it was important to stand with the national movement."

The district has coordinated with Bridgewater police to bring in extra officers to the campus March 14, he said.

"Parents and members of the public will not be allowed in this area and trespassing will not be tolerated," Morrell said.

He said walkout participants will receive no credit for any work missed, including tests, quizzes and other classwork. In addition, he said, students who miss more than half the class (20 minutes) will be assigned a cut of class as discussed in the student handbook.

Morrell said that "while this will be the procedure in this instance, any future walkout will be immediately met with assignment of a Saturday detention or a day of In-school suspension, a cut of class assigned, a zero for classwork and an absence toward the attendance policy."

Other New Jersey school districts are coordinating with students to ensure their safety, and confirming in advance that they will not be disciplined for participating in the walkout, the ACLU-NJ statement said. The New Jersey School Boards Association also issued guidance that offers alternatives to discipline, including building an educational event around the walkout.

“As students nationwide are confronting fears for their personal safety in school, educators can focus on how to foster a supportive environment and nurture student efforts to learn for themselves about participatory democracy,” Jeanne LoCicero, ACLU-NJ deputy legal director, said in the statement.

“The ACLU-NJ supports students in expressing their political beliefs and stands ready to support them if they receive more severe punishment because of the political nature of their conduct.”

Last week, the ACLU-NJ distributed an open letter to school administrators encouraging them to seize this moment as a practical lesson in civic engagement and refrain from disciplining them. The ACLU-NJ is collecting information from students about their experiences with the protests and the discipline of political speech, and encourages students and families to share stories of school discipline.

Partake in the process

Nancy Diaz of the Parlin section of Sayreville, said her son, a sixth-grader at Sayreville Middle School, asked her to help organize a student walkout at the school.

"I reached out to the Sayreville School District," she said. "It was the same week Dr. Labbe sent out a blast to the district saying they wouldn't authorize any kids to be part of the walkout. I told them what a great thing for the school district to get the kids involved in civic engagement, which I really believe is relevant to the K through 12 curriculum."

Diaz also took issue with the approach the district is taking with the walkouts.

"The parents that wanted their kids to participate are not going to do it," she said. "The kids are being stopped from exercising their freedom of speech and being engaged. I suggested in lieu of a walkout why not do an assembly. These kids are doing these shelter-in-place exercises and I'm sure they have questions.

"The kids know what's happening. They (the district) had this opportunity for them to be part of history and partake in this process and they blew it. This would be a great opportunity to allow the kids an arena to voice their concerns and ask questions."

Staff Writer Susan Loyer: 732-565-7243; sloyer@gannettnj.com