Kennewick School District Warns of Consequences for Student ‘Walkouts’

January 23rd. there was one of those 'orchestrated'  allegedly grass-roots walkouts at a number of schools around the country.  Students protesting ICE, although many doubt they fully understood what they were cutting class against.

   KSD Issues 'Warning' About Cutting Classes

Now, we have learned a similar walkout or protest is reportedly planned for this coming Friday, January 30th, someone from Richland even messaged our Mobile App at the radio station trying to seek coverage. This person said students were encouraged to cut class (presumably 4th hour) and march up and down Edison Street, which is close to Kamiakin.

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Last week, KSD issued a letter and text to parents via their Parent and Student Square Service. They said while they recognize students' right to voice opinions, they strongly staged what's allowed and what's not pertaining to schools. We got one of the emails.

The email contained this information:
(per District Policy)

• "This walkout is not a school- or district-sponsored event.
• District policy and state law do not allow protests or demonstrations to take place in classrooms or disrupt instruction during the school day.
• Students who choose to leave class or campus during instructional time will be marked absent.
• Any demonstrations must take place on public sidewalks, not on school grounds, to comply with district policy and state law.
• Disruptive conduct will be addressed according to our district's student behavior policies."

We also learned students who choose item 3 (leaving) will be marked as unexcused and will not be changed. For any student who seeks to accomplish things in school, especially high school, unexcused abences don't look very good on the record, especially those related to these kinds of activities.

A number of students at KaHS revealed they had been tagged in or been sent (without asking) information on social media about this January 30th event, some of them reported it to Officials, believing it will be a disruptive event.