What Right Do Students Have to Protest at School?

Hundreds of Washburn High School students walked out of school April 8 to support the school’s athletic director, Dan Pratt.

The district is investigating Pratt for a “private personnel matter”—thought to be related to the purchase of a scoreboard—and students worry that he’s on the verge of being fired.

In the lead-up to the walkout, high school administrators warned that absences would not be excused. A statement on the school’s website said:

While we respect students’ rights to demonstrate, if a student chooses to participate, the absence will not be excused. If the student chooses to leave school, he or she will not be allowed into school or after-school activities on that day. Students will be welcomed back the following day for a regular day of instruction.

Within days of the walkout, the district reassigned Principal Carol Markham-Cousins.

And last month, about 300 South High School students from the All Nations Program, which offers American Indian-specific programming at the school, walked out to protest the lack of visibility of the program. Students weren’t let back in school until community activists convinced the school to let them get their jackets and key.

Patch wants to know what you think: Should students be allowed to protest decisions by leaving school? Should administrators discipline those who left? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.