KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI – Students walked out of Galesburg-Augusta High School in protest Friday morning.
The walkout on May 20 was in response to decisions made by Superintendent Wendy Somers and the district’s Board of Education, sophomore and walkout co-organizer Madilyn Watson told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.
The school district leaders didn’t renew some teachers’ contracts and students wanted to know the reasons and those decisions to be reconsidered, Watson said.
“I guess we’re mostly just trying to get answers and potentially save some of the teachers’ jobs if possible,” Watson said.
Galesburg-Augusta High School includes grades 8-12 and has 328 students, according to the district’s website.
Staff had worked with students to make sure they knew the regulations around peaceful protests, Watson said.
“We worked with our students to engage in a peaceful protest regarding the non renewal of a teacher’s contract,” Somers said in a letter to families. “We saw this as a teachable moment about civic engagement. We would like to commend the students who peacefully participated in the protest and then returned to class.”
The walkout was planned after students first attended a board meeting Monday, May 16, and made statements about why they wanted an eighth grade teacher to have his contract renewed, Watson said. A few teachers also spoke about wanting him to stay, she said. However, his contract was not renewed.
That’s when they decided to walk out, in protest over that and other teachers not having their contracts renewed, Watsons said.
Students held signs and chanted, Watson said. They made sure to stop any student who said inappropriate things or used curse words. The whole protest was peaceful and non-violent, Watson said.
Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s deputies showed up to the walkout. The district requested the police, Undersheriff James VanDyken said.
Police told an MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette photographer on the scene that no one was allowed on the district’s property based on an order from Somers.
The school was placed in a brief lockdown because of safety concerns, Somers said in the letter.
“Their decision and their actions caused a disruption in the learning environment and created a significant safety concern,” Somers’ letter said.
Around 50 students walked out, according to pictures from Watson. A majority of the students were in eighth, ninth and 10th grades, with a few seniors as well, she said.
“We are not trying to cause any major problems,” Watson said. “We’re trying to get our voices heard because when we did it … respectfully it didn’t work.”
Students were supposed to return to class at the end of the allotted time for the walkout, the letter said.
There was not an agreed upon end time with the students, Watson said. They planned to be outside until there was something to show they were being listened to.
“They wanted control of the situation and it was not agreed upon,” Watson said. “If we had gone inside, we would have been forgotten and overlooked.”
The district dismissed students at the high school at 11:30 a.m. at the recommendation of the sheriff’s office, Somers’ letter said.
A group of students went back into the school and a student allegedly tried to get other students to come outside and harassed a teacher, VanDyken said.
“Administrators will be following up with students who chose not to return to class, and they will face disciplinary action as outlined in the student handbook,” Somers’ letter said.
Students were allowed two at a time into the school with escorts to retrieve belongings after they were sent home early, Watson said.
Deputies will be at the school Monday morning out of an “abundance of caution,” the letter said. Crisis team members will be at the school as well for any students and staff who need it, Somers’ letter said.
“(At) the board meeting, we were like this is ridiculous,” Watson said. “They refuse to listen … and that’s when the complete outrage at our school started.”
Students just want to know the legitimate reasons why the teachers are losing their jobs, Watson said. If there are valid reasons, that’s fine, but Watson said the few reasons offered so far have not been valid.
Somers said she cannot comment on personnel matters.
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 4:17 p.m. with a statement from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office.
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