STUDENTS IN WALKOUT PUNISHED

Thirty-two Cape Girardeau Central High School students who walked out of school Friday in a protest of budget cuts have been assigned Saturday detention as punishment.

Students said Wednesday they believe the punishment is too severe.

On Friday a group of 30 to 40 students walked out of class in a 15-minute protest of school district budget cuts and a memo banning teachers from discussing the budget situation during class time.

Among students involved in the protest was Jason Ledure, a junior. He said students are upset by a combination of issues: the budget cuts; the memo at the high school telling teachers not to talk about budget cuts during class time; and now the punishment of protesters.

"We care what happens to our school," said Ledure. "We are trying to stand up for the teachers. We know there are people out there in the community who support us.

"There are a lot of people who are concerned: the parents at Washington School, the band parents. I've also talked to teachers and they say they are starting a petition," Ledure said. "Everyone is concerned.

"I'm in the gifted education program," Ledure said.

Other students involved are members of Student Council and National Honor Society. "These are smart kids, sharp, and we care about our school," he said. "We care and we get in trouble."

Students were informed of the punishment Tuesday. Also, a letter was mailed to parents informing them of the incident and the Saturday detention.

According to the student handbook, students who are truant absent from school for any part of the day receive five days of afternoon detention for the first offense and Saturday detention for the second offense.

Assistant Principal Weldon Hager said Wednesday: "We didn't rule this a truancy; We ruled it a walkout. Anytime students walk out of the classroom onto the football field, and everyone on the west side of building is looking out the windows, that definitely disrupts the school."

The incident was more serious than truancy, warranting a more severe punishment, said Hager.

Hager said students will serve the detention from 8 a.m. to noon during a Saturday in the next few weeks.

Hager explained that it's standard procedure to send a letter to parents when a student receives a discipline referral. "We try to keep the parents informed," he said.

Hager explained that principal Dan Milligan sent a memo to all seventh-hour teachers asking them to list the students who walked out. Those 32 students were punished.

Ledure said the protest grew from conversations about the budget cuts at school. "So many teachers are being cut from so many different parts of the program," he said. "All that breaks down, making class size bigger.

"Then, a few of the teachers talked about budget cuts in class and got reprimanded told not to talk about that."

A senior student at Central High School who requested anonymity, said: "Personally I had a problem with the gag order for the teachers. I didn't think that was fair. Teachers and students don't leave their rights at the school door."

She said students were also upset at the way the budget reallocation process was handled. Over $1 million in budget cuts were approved by the school board earlier this month.

"We felt we had no chance to say anything," she said. "The board made the decision."

The senior student said: "I was very surprised that we got Saturday detention. If you are truant a whole day you don't get Saturday detention. This is a suspension alternative, and we got it for missing 15 minutes of class. We thought it was way out of proportion.

"I'm going to take Saturday detention," she said. "If you are suspended you can't make up your class work, and I don't want to risk my classes like that.

"I stood up for what I believe was right," she said. "I don't think any of us would have been out there if we didn't have a genuine interest in the school. It's people like us who are going to be affected in the future by these cuts; students who are really involved and take full advantage of extracurricular activities and athletics."