Students stage walk out at St. Regis

In a continued show of support for teachers at St. Regis Schools who were given notice of non-renewal and placed on administrative leave on May 10, 23 students walked out of the halls of the school shortly after breakfast Monday morning and sat on the football field throughout the school day.

The idea for the protest was sparked by senior Jeron Jennings and junior Dallas Lewis, who spent the weekend informing their fellow students of the plans via text messaging and Facebook.

“It’s basically in protest of the teachers leaving and them not being renewed,” Lewis said of the protest. “We started out just going to individual people to explain to them what we were doing…at one point everyone in the high school had said yes.”

While the entirety of the high school did not participate in the protest for various reasons, the 21 students who walked out of the school with Jennings and Lewis Monday morning were comprised of grade seven through twelve students who remained on the field for the duration of the shortened school day.

“We’re just trying to share our voice in a way that we aren’t yelling,” Lewis said. “We just want them (the administration) to know how we feel about the situation.”

Lewis referenced the large student turnout at a board meeting last Monday. The public comment portion of the meeting saw student after student, many in tears as they spoke, speaking candidly to the board about the situation with their teachers and their fears of their future at St. Regis.

“The students must stand up for our teachers,” St. Regis junior Fina Lizardi said. “We are here to show how the students are being affected by these actions. We will no longer stand by and watch our school fall apart at the seams.”

While Lewis admitted rumors had been circulating through the school regarding official repercussions for the students stand on Monday, St. Regis Superintendent Janet Hanson was supportive of the students move to voice their opinions.

“I think this is one of the best schools that I have been at and I have high regard and respect for the way that they (students and staff) handle themselves,” Superintendent Hanson said. “I saw that it had for planning, it had heart into it and they managed themselves very well through the process. Although I don’t support students missing class, I think it was still a good educational opportunity.”

Superintendent Hanson said the administration wanted to provide the protesting students with the same support and supervision they would receive during a typical school day and ensured their parents they were safe.

“We are listening and we care very much about what they are saying,” Superintendent Hanson said.

When asked how she felt about the students calling for her resignation, Superintendent Hanson said her role is one where she must accept criticism and be willing to listen.

“That is the role of the leadership, to receive every and all criticism,” Hanson said. “You want that so the superintendent has complete transparency – the role does have authority but you want it to be legitimate authority.”

Superintendent Hanson added that the protest was “just as important” as the students covering traditional curriculum and because of that she made sure she allowed them to express themselves without “imposing herself” on the situation.

“I wanted to give them as much space and their own authority in that space to have full privilege without inhibiting as long as it was safe and respectful,” Superintendent Hanson said.

As the final bell rang at campus the 23 students took down a large sign they had placed on the uprights of the football field that said “save our teachers” and began to leave campus.

“We had a lot of people come by and honk their horns and holler at us,” Lewis said.

“I wasn’t expecting all the media attention and I hope people see this and something actually ends up getting done because of it,” Jennings said. “I feel like we got our point across pretty well. I hope for the best.”