More than 100 Holt High School students walked out of school today to protest school officials’ response to recent safety issues, including an incident in which a student brought a loaded handgun to the school last week.
Students exited the high school through the main doors about 11:50 a.m., where many sat or stood until busses arrived at 12:45 p.m. Students already had been scheduled for an early release.
“All of the trouble started last Wednesday, because that’s when we found out about someone bringing a gun to school,” said sophomore Joy Williams, who helped organize the protest. “Everybody was on edge.”
Superintendent David Hornak did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Ingham County Sheriff’s Office said surveillance video showed a 15-year-old boy had a handgun while riding a school bus home on Oct. 26. Police arrested the boy for carrying a concealed weapon, and he was suspended from school.
Williams said the sense of fear increased Thursday, when Holt Junior High School went into lockdown. She said school administrators thought there was a threat to the school because of a message found on social media. The threat was later found to be related to a school in another state with a similar name.
“We didn’t know much,” Williams said. “Us students, we just saw a really high police presence. At the end of the day, they did a staggered release.”
Williams said administrators didn’t communicate effectively with students, which increased their worries.
“There’s a lot of anxiety about going back to school,” she said. “Last week really showed the lack of communication. It pushed me to do the walkout this week.”
Karry DeBerry, whose daughter attends the high school, came to the school to support the protest. DeBerry said students made administration aware of the walkout before it happened. She said she was surprised the school didn’t communicate with parents about the protest earlier in the day.
“They didn’t even address it to the parents in an email,” she said of the walkout. “They could have told the parents. There’s a lot of communication that has been lacking.”
DeBerry said she wants parents to be able to come to school and walk the halls.
“I really feel like the kids would be able to confide in a parent versus a security guard,” she said.
Freshman Logan Schmidt helped edit a letter from protest organizers given to school administrators. The letter informed administrators of the planned walkout and outlined organizers’ reasons for the protest, including a lack of communication between staff and to students about safety issues and inadequate efforts to combat bullying.
Schmidt said he felt that the walkout was a success.
“We want our voices to be heard,” he said. “I think we still need more work because nothing is going to change overnight.”