Gun Violence Protests: Novi Students Permitted To Walkout

NOVI, MI – Students in the Novi Community School District will be allowed to walkout and participate in the nationwide student-led protests and marches following the school shooting last month in Parkland, Fla. Novi Superintendent Steve Matthews, in a letter to parents, said students will not be disciplined for protesting, as long as they remain peaceful.

"Our students do have First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and to free speech," Matthews wrote. "In our district, we will honor those rights."

And, students, regardless of their point of view, will be allowed to participate, Matthews said.

In schools across the nation, students plan to walkout of classrooms and schools in a show of solidarity for students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where on Feb. 14, 17 students and staff members died in a mass shooting.

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The accused gunman used a AR-15 assault rifle during the attack. Students in Parkland – and elsewhere across the nation – have called on U.S. lawmakers to ban the weapons. The first nationwide protest is slated for March 14 and another on April 20.

In Novi, teachers and staff, however, will not participate because the school district "is a public entity," Matthews said. "The role of our staff during these events is to keep students safe, not to organize or engage in the activity during school hours," Matthews wrote.

The district also put in place a plan to accommodate student protests. District officials prefer students stay in the building and the walkouts will not be allowed to continue throughout the day, but rather during a window of time to express their opinion.

If students decide to leave the building or school property, they will not be granted re-entry without first going to a designated entrance, Matthews said. And, if they don't return, the district's school attendance and absence policy will be applied.

"We teach and encourage our students to express their opinions on issues about which they care deeply," Matthews wrote. "Now, we should applaud their willingness to speak out and speak up about school safety and school communities."

File photo by Mark Wallheiser/Associated Press