Dear Parents & Guardians,
The "National School Walkout" planned for March 14 is just two days away. You should have received my
March 1 communication
regarding MPCSD's plan to support student activism and ensure student safety. If you have not read that communication, you may want to do so before Wednesday morning. This letter is a follow up to that communication with
important information about students leaving campus without parent arrangement and permission
.
The
March 14 National Walkout
is being organized
by the Women's March's Youth EMPOWER group. At 10 a.m. in every time zone, organizers are encouraging teachers, students, administrators, parents and allies to walk out for 17 minutes - one for every person killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14.
As a public school district, MPCSD has the obligation to uphold safe and respectful school environments for all students and our jobs as educators come before our personal and political beliefs. We also have a responsibility to provide students with age-appropriate avenues to express their own personal and political beliefs in ways that don't infringe on the rights of others.
To accommodate both goals, the ASB (student leadership group) at the middle school is being supported in organizing student-led activities at the middle school level. Events will occur around the 10:00 a.m. hour, as organizers have intended. Students have been and will continue to be told that they must remain on campus and cannot venture beyond the sidewalks surrounding Hillview Middle School. Hillview and District staff will ensure student safety and supervision for those students who abide by the directions set forth. Parents/guardians are welcome to join the students, but must first sign in at the front office and wear a visitor's badge.
The City of Menlo Park and the Menlo Park Police Department have made it clear that they expect other walkout activities, primarily from high school and college students, to require their undivided focus at that time. They have asked that we do everything in our power to encourage our middle school students to stay on campus and we intend to do so. For their own safety, students who choose to participate are asked to remain on campus and to express their activism within the guidelines set forth by our school and district administration.
Normal school policy and practice for leaving campus will be followed on March 14. Students who wish to leave campus MUST be physically signed out by a parent. Students will be released only to their parents' care on March 14 (just like they would if they had a dentist appointment). Parents/guardians are then responsible for their child's care and supervision until the child is signed back into school. Students who leave campus without being signed out will receive the same consequences they would receive under normal circumstances--a referral, a call home, and a Saturday School.
We ask that each parent/guardian of a Hillview student have a conversation with their child about family expectations around the events of the Walkout prior to March 14. If you do wish to sign your child out, please plan to arrive well before 10:00 a.m. as we have no idea of the numbers to expect.
We invite every Hillview parent/guardian to encourage your child to remain on campus for the student-led activism, as we feel their message will be just as powerful and their ensured safety much more possible.
We recognize that "civil disobedience" must involve some kind of risk in order for it to be "disobedient." We thank parents in advance for understanding the fine-line schools must walk to both support students and keep them safe.
Those families with children at Menlo-Atherton High School have received communication outlining a similar message that students are being supported with activism opportunities on campus and those who choose to leave campus will be marked absent and their safety cannot be protected by the school staff.
As a reminder, there will be no formal communication to elementary students regarding the events of March 14. Should a parent/guardian want their child to participate in community activism on that day, he/she must sign their child out and take responsibility for their child's safety and care until the child is signed back in.
There are no right answers and no "play books" for our response to events like these and while we may not please everyone with our response, we do assure you that we are giving this subject the utmost thought and care. As always, please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher, principal, or me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
