Pompton Lakes High School students walking out of class in response to Parkland shooting

POMPTON LAKES — Students at Pompton Lakes High School will be joining their New Jersey peers March 14 in a national show of unity in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that took 17 lives.

Students are planning to silently walk out of their classrooms at 10 a.m. to remember the 14 students and three staff members who police say were killed on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14.

"We are doing it to remember the victims of the Parkland shootings," said Kelly Brecq, one of the student organizers. "While students and faculty may have their own opinions, we do not want to politicize the event. It is simply to remember the lives lost."

Student leaders decided against walking out of the building after meeting with school principals, said Brecq. The final details are being worked out in cooperation with school leadership.

Students are planning to gather in the auditorium for presentations on the lives of those killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Thirty seconds of silence will follow a slide show presentation for each victim, Brecq said.

"[It's] to kind of humanize the events and how it could've been us," she said.

Students will be wearing orange t-shirts and wrist bands and the theme of the event is "What are your 17?" Locker signs will begin to go up that week, Brecq said.

Brecq said that when she first heard about the student movement to walk out of schools she thought it was a great idea.

"I was one of those people that was like, 'yeah, we have to do it,'" she said.

Students took to social media, saying they were going to walk out of the school, before school leadership managed to temper things. Brecq said she realized it was dangerous to stage a school walkout. She said walking out of class is safer and is also a way to maintain the district's standing as the safest in the state, and fourth safest in the nation, according to Niche.com.

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"The whole idea was to have it be a student-lead movement," said High School Principal Vincent S. Przybylinski, Jr. "They came together and agree to keep it safe, keep it orderly, keep it positive, keep it respectful."

Przybylinski noted they are not carving out an assembly for the event.

"It's not an assembly schedule," he said. "We're keeping with the theme of walking out of class."

Details are being worked out, he said, adding that he was planning on making a school announcement about the walkout Friday.

Brecq said she feels safe in school but said she is among many who are questioning what it means to be considered the safest school in New Jersey.

"I never really thought about it being my school," she said. "I always feel safe at PLHS, but, I also believe in response to what has happened, as a precaution, we need to re-evaluate school safety procedures and fight for new legislation regarding gun safety."

Brecq said people in school are talking about the idea of limiting students to using one school entrance. She also mentioned the idea of installing a security guard at the front of the building.

"Should we take other steps?" she said. "There is a lot of talk in the school about it so I don't know what they're going to do."

Superintendent Paul Amoroso said Pompton Lakes has a number of procedures and processes in place that are continually evaluated and improved.

"After the Newtown tragedy in 2012, our police force began regular, unscheduled visits to each of our schools on an almost daily basis," he said. "The police do a great job conducting these walk throughs/security checks during the school day."

Email: Agnish@northjersey.com