BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A school district didn’t back down Friday from its warnings to punish students if they walked out of school to be part of the nationwide ICE protests.
Brevard Public Schools said the fewer than 50 students who participated in unauthorized walkouts at multiple high schools will get detention or be suspended if they left campus without parental approval.
“Despite significant social media attention encouraging a large-scale student walkout, Brevard Public Schools experienced a calm and orderly day across the district,” Janet Murnaghan, Brevard Public Schools’ chief strategic communications officer for Government & Community Relations, said in a statement. “Among our 16 high schools — serving approximately 23,000 students — fewer than 50 students participated in an unauthorized walkout. That’s a tiny fraction, less than half of one percent of the entire BPS high school population. An unauthorized walkout is defined as leaving campus without parental permission. Students who left campus without parental approval will face disciplinary action consistent with the Brevard Public Schools Student Code of Conduct. Under the Code, leaving campus without permission is classified as a Level 3 infraction. Consequences for a Level 3 violation will include detention or suspension. Those decisions are made at the school level.”
Ahraya Dalaq, 18, told your Rockledge Community Correspondent James Sparvero she wasn’t afraid to be disciplined.
“I’m Palestinian, Mexican, and Puerto Rican so, what’s happening in the world right now is devastating, and what we can do as young people to help out and just do as much as we can just means a lot because what’s happening to our people is just beyond devastating and it’s sickening right now,” the Rockledge High School senior said.
[PAST COVERAGE: Brevard Public Schools warns of disciplinary action for student walkouts amid nationwide ICE protests]
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Students staged a walkout at Rockledge High in 2018 when a group rallied to support the Second Amendment.
The difference between why Brevard Schools said it wasn’t threatening any discipline for those students, but it is now, is because that walkout occurred after Parkland and the district said it directly impacted students in Florida schools. The district said the walkouts Friday were not related to a school-based issue.
“What is also happening right now, is that we have outside organizations and people who are quoting case law incorrectly, who are saying to our students, ‘Oh, it’s OK to go run out there. It is OK for you to take your First Amendment right go off campus, go somewhere else, and go ahead and protest,” school board chairman Matt Susin said. “Not allowed to protest on campus, not allowed to create a distraction.”
[MORE: Why Brevard County students at prior walkout weren’t disciplined but those at upcoming ICE protest will be]