Cobb schools: Students not allowed to join in gun protest

MARIETTA—Cobb Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale will not permit students to leave class and participate in a nationwide protest of gun laws on March 14 also meant to commemorate the 17 Florida victims murdered on Valentine’s Day.

The decision came following a meeting between Ragsdale and the district’s principals.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the district announced that “students who choose to disrupt the normal operation of a school may be subject to consequences in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct.”

Walkouts are planned at high schools across the country on March 14, one month after the mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 dead.

Students at several schools across the district have already organized, and say hundreds are expected to leave class at 10 a.m. and stay out for 17 minutes in honor of each person killed in the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.

Lassiter senior Hannah Andress is leading the charge at her school — and she said she and her classmates plan on leaving class March 14 with or without the district’s permission.

“This isn’t going to deter us,” she said. “We will walk out as planned.”

According to Andress, 500 students from Walton plan to participate, along with more than 300 at her school and another 200 at Pope.

“You can’t give all of us in-school suspension,” she said. “It’s just not feasible.”

But Ragsdale said if school is in session, students are expected to abide by the rules. Those who don’t, he said, are subject to punishment spelled out in the code of conduct. Shaddi Abusaid, Marietta Daily Journal