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PARKLAND, Fla. – Busloads of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School headed for Tallahassee on Tuesday for a showdown with state lawmakers while back home, officials announced plans to resume classes next week at the battle-scarred school.
The school remained shut down Tuesday, six days after a gunman’s rampage left 17 students and staff dead and more than a dozen wounded.
Three of those killed were members of the Junior ROTC, and Gov. Rick Scott ordered on Tuesday that Florida Guard members attend their service.
The U.S. Military Academy issued a posthumous certificate of appointment for Peter Wang, a 15-year-old JROTC member who died in uniform while helping fellow students flee to safety.
One hundred survivors were making the 450-mile trip from Parkland to the state capital for a rally Wednesday and talks with leaders of both parties.
“I really think they are going to hear us out,” said senior Chris Grady, 19. He said he hopes for “common-sense laws like rigorous background checks.”
Some of the students said they sup- port a ban on military-style weapons like the semiautomatic rifle used in last week’s shooting.
GOP state Sen. Bill Galvano said he will introduce legislation that would raise the legal age for possessing a rapid-fire rifle to 21 but wouldn’t ban them. A waiting period for purchases, expanded background checks and other measures are planned.
More than 20 vigils paying homage to the victims took place Monday night at schools, churches and parks across Florida.
At a rally Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, teenagers pleaded for stricter gun laws and berated lawmakers who took political donations from the National Rifle Association. President Trump was among the targets.
“If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and it should never have happened ... I’m going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association,” said Emma Gonzalez, 18, a senior at the school.
The students plan a March For Our Lives in Washington on March 24 to demand legislative action by Congress to address gun violence. The march got a boost from George and Amal Clooney, who announced a $500,000 donation to the cause, saying they were inspired by the “courage and eloquence” of the student activists.
In Parkland, teachers planned to return to the school for meetings Friday, Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said. A voluntary orientation for students and parents was set for Sunday; the goal was resumption of classes on a modified schedule next Tuesday.
Runcie, citing the “long and difficult recovery process,” said the timeline could change.
He said the events were open only to students, their parents and guardians and the school’s staff.
“Broward County Public Schools appreciates the support of our entire community during this phased reopening process,” Runcie said in a statement.