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Local students punished for participating in walkout protest

Posted at 7:31 PM, Mar 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-16 07:47:59-04

Some parents are upset after they say dozens of middle school students, taking part in the national walk out, ended up facing possible suspension. 

According to several parents 13 Action News spoke to, more than 60 students at Harney Middle School received Required Parent Conferences and weren't allowed to return to class Wednesday. 

One mother named Suzanne said she received a call to pick up her sixth grader when her daughter was RPC'd after walking out of class. 

According to Suzanne, many students did take advantage of the walkouts by running through the school, and some even left campus. 

"Apparently kids started running, some ran off the property, and my daughter was just walking back to class," Suzanne said. 

The Clark County School District could not release how many students received RPC but did acknowledge there was a walkout at Harney Middle School. 

According to parents of students who were punished, the school plans to hold a meeting at 8 a.m. Friday to discuss why the student was facing consequences. 

Suzanne said her daughter has missed school for two days, because of RPC and believes students shouldn't be punished through their education. 

"It affects the education, which is the main goal, to have these kids educated and to teach them the right way and the wrong way," Suzanne said. 

Some parent who told their child not to participate in the walkout questioned if the school or the parent were at fault for the punishment. 

"Little humans get to have a say but whether they get to act on it or not is the responsibility of the parent," said one parent. 

Suzanne said besides differing opinions, the staff at Harney Middle School did not have a plan for students who wanted to walk out. She said students had talked about protesting the days leading up to the walkout, but no protest was officially planned. 

"It's an unreasonable expectation to think that these children would be able to walk out with no direction, no rules," Suzanne said.