Independence suspended student who didn't follow rules during gun protest walkout

An Independence school district student who participated in last week's national Walkout Day was suspended five days for not following rules set by school leaders for the event.

School officials said they would not discuss individual student behavior and the district did not respond to The Star's questions about how many students were disciplined after participating the walkout day.

But a William Chrisman High School freshman, in media reports, said she and some friends received what she called a "harsh" suspension.

School leaders had approved students walking to the school's track to protest the shooting deaths of of 17 students and teachers at Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14.

But the William Chrisman freshman said that rather than walking to the track during the 17 minutes allotted for the walkout, she had walked to the corner.

She told members of the media that school leaders suspended her for five days.

The student explained in media interviews that she believed the walkout should be planned and orchestrated by students, not school officials.

Independence school officials said they worked with students to organize the walkout and maintain student safety.

School officials said that more than 700 students from the district's three high schools participated in a variety of "student-centered" activities on during the walkout from 10 a.m. to 10:17 a.m. on Wednesday.

"We did not have any students face discipline for holding signs or taking part in the student walkout between 10 a.m. and 10:17 a.m. ," said Jana Corrie, district spokeswoman .

The walkout day's events were student initiated to honor the 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. A 19-year-old former student who entered the school firing a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle has been arrested and charged with the murders.

Independence said 700 students participated in a moment of silence for the Parkland victims as well as chanting and marching around the track or school.

"We had more than 700 students who did not face discipline who took part in events Wednesday in a safe manner that was respectful of the school environment," Corrie said.

Independence was not the only district in the Kansas City area to discipline students who participated in the walkout event, was was recognized by thousands of students in districts across the country.

In Park Hill School District about 150 students who observed the walkout were marked truant. The students had been given the option to serve a detention or attend an administrative conference.

Elsewhere around the area students stood by flag poles, chanted on their school front lawns or walked around school tracks. At least one group marched from school to Kansas City City Hall with signs and megaphones.

Corrie said that while Independence school officials supported students' freedom of expression, "students who refused to return to school well beyond the allowed time, left school grounds without permission and who were dismissive and disrespectful to teachers and administrators would have been disciplined accordingly... We cannot allow students to linger outside of our school building for hours during the school day without supervision."

This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Independence suspended student who didn't follow rules during gun protest walkout."