Students hope to take part in national walkout on April 20

Event set to mark 19 years since Columbine

The Bethel Park school board wants to hear from high school administrators and students about what exactly will be happening at a planned April 20 school walkout before the board gives its approval.

The board is expected to vote April 17 on whether to allow high school students to participate in the National School Walkout, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

Schools across the country will be participating in the walkout, according to the National School Walkout website.

The Bethel Park school board had previously approved a school walkout that was scheduled for March 14, when thousands of students staged a walkout in support of victims of the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., but it was postponed because of weather.

Board president Donna Cook said in a statement the board approved its students to participate in the March 14 National School Walkout Day and said April 20 was selected as a rain date because it is the day before the students are holding a THON-style dance at the high school.

Proceeds from the dance will be donated to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

“I respect the fact that our high school students are joining with their peers across the country in this public show of support for those who lost their lives as a result of school violence,” Ms. Cook said.

She also said she respected that Bethel Park students want to show support for the safety of all schools in a peaceful and respectful way “to stress the importance of keeping schools safe places to learn and prepare for the future.”

“The Bethel Park Board of School Directors looks forward to learning more about what the students are planning for April 20 at our April 17 committee meeting,” Ms. Cook said.

At a March 27 board meeting the walkout was on the agenda for discussion.

School director Jim Means said he was concerned that the walkouts across the country had “become more and more politicized” and have taken on “an anti-gun, anti-NRA and anti-Republican” agenda.

Mr. Means is treasurer of the Bethel Park Republican Committee, according to its website.

“It’s a violation of our policy to get into anything political,” Mr. Means said, adding that the walkout would set a precedent and the board would then have to allow additional types of walkouts for other causes.

“There’s been a fake facade on this that it’s student-led,” he said. “This has been a political event from the very beginning. I think

we should abandon it.”

According to the National School Walkout website, the walkout is a “nationwide protest of our leaders’ failure to pass laws that protect us from gun violence.”

The website goes on to state that mass shootings happen “far too frequently in America and we as a nation have become numb to seeing the news.”

“After each one, the same cycle takes place: the media spend less than a week on the story, politicians offer their ‘thoughts and prayers,’ and nothing ever changes. But after the horrific massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, young Americans are taking matters into their own hands,” the website states.

The National School Walkout calls on high school students to “send a message that we won’t tolerate any more inaction on this issue.”

According to the district, the students had planned in March to read the names of the 17 people who died in Parkland, Fla., and spell out “#neveragain,” the hashtag associated on social media with the National School Walkout.

“Students said they wanted to express a solidarity,” with the students in Florida, said Jenna Fraser, associate principal at Bethel Park High School.

She said that steps are in place to ensure students’ safety if they choose to walkout and added that a majority of students are interested in participating.

“This was all presented by the students. I think it’s very mature. They wanted to take a stand,” Ms. Fraser said.

Board member Pamela Dobos said that the original event was set up as a memorial to those who died in Florida and it was unfortunate that the decision was made to postpone it because of the weather.

“It’s a planned event for 17 minutes for them to read the students’ names [who died in Florida],” Ms. Dobos said. “We can’t go back on our word,” she said, adding, “It’s not a political event. It’s a memorial.”

The consensus of the board at its March 27 meeting was to have the high school administration go back to the students to see if their plans for the walkout have changed since the original date.

The board is expected to make a decision at its April 17 meeting.

Other area schools participating in the National School Walkout on April 20 include Montour, North Allegheny, Moon Area and Franklin Regional high schools.