NYC Students Could Face Consequences For Walkout Protests

NEW YORK, NY — New York City officials largely supported last month's massive school walkout for stronger gun control laws, joining students at their rallies and offering amnesty for those who went back to class. But the Department of Education is taking a stiffer approach to a new round of protests this week.

Students will be marked absent if they aren't in school Friday, when a second nationwide walkout is set to occur, DOE spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said. That's a shift from last month, when students weren't considered absent as long as they went straight back to class after brief pre-planned March 14 rallies.

"We support student participation in civic engagement and advocacy, and encourage schools to facilitate opportunities for respectful discussions on current events," Barbot said in a statement. "We are aware of the planned full-day walkout and schools will follow standard attendance policies."

Friday's walkout, planned for the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, will likely be smaller than the March protests that involved 100,000 students. But it's still expected to draw thousands who want to maintain the movement for tougher gun laws that's burgeoned since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

A few dozen city schools have registered walkouts on a nationwide organizing page. Some, including Brooklyn Technical High School, plan to protest all day. NYC Says Enough, a new coalition of students fighting gun violence, expects about 6,000 students from 30 schools to attend a noon rally at Washington Square Park.

The DOE's attendance policy says any student who misses school for at least one class period must be marked absent. Students can get absences excused if they miss class for religious, medical or other reasons.

Mayor Bill de Blasio backed the March 14 walkout, saying he supported students' engagement in an important political moment as long as they didn't skip out for the rest of day. But Richard Carranza, the new schools chancellor, reportedly discouraged students from participating this week because it's not "the same thing."

"You don’t have to be out of school all day to make your voices known. You’ve already made your voices known," Carranza said at a recent town hall with students, according to Chalkbeat.

Arielle Geismar, a junior at the Beacon School who co-founded NYC Says Enough, called Carranza's remarks "upsetting." Students will continue to protest until lawmakers take steps toward gun control, she said.

"If our voices were truly known, gun reform legislation would have been passed long ago," Geismar said in a tet message.

(Lead image: Students at Bard Early College High School protest during the March 14 national school walkout. Photo by Ciara McCarthy/Patch)