PHOENIX - Inspired by young activists from Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students at several Arizona high schools plan to join a national “walkout” event on Wednesday.
In response, some school administrators tell 12 News they will allow some form of a collective moment of silence on campus.
The coordinated walkout at 10 a.m. will involve students joining together and holding a 17-minute moment of silence. Some students are planning to give speeches and express demands for gun safety reform as well.
At Willow Canyon High School in Surprise, administrators are on standby. They have communicated with a group of students planning to hold a walkout that they want them to stay on campus if they participate.
"The priority is on safety,” said Zachery Fountain, Dysart Unified School District Director of Communications. “Principals have been reaching out to groups of students who have shown interest ... Our policies and procedures are still in place for going off campus."
Those policies could include enforcing detention and unexcused absence policies. At Rincon High School in Tucson, the administration is also showing tolerance for some sort of on-campus display. Students will be allowed to leave class for a 17-minute moment of silence in the school's courtyard area, said Rincon Principal Alissa Welch.
"If they try to leave campus, we won’t try to stop them. We will take names at the gates and notify the parents. Essentially, it's ditching," Welch said.
A spokesperson for State Superintendent Dianne Douglas said Douglas respects the students’ desire to honor the Parkland victims with 17 minutes of silence, but she is leaving it up to local school boards and districts to decide what should be allowed.
“She would hope that whatever these students do to honor the fallen students in Parkland, that they do so in the most inclusive manner possible,” said Stefan Swiat, public information officer for the Arizona Department of Education.