Students at four West Island high schools plan walkout
Students at four West Island high schools — John Rennie High School, Saint Thomas High School, Lindsay Place High School, and Riverdale High School — are planning a "walkout" on Wednesday in support of their teachers.
Students say they will show up to school tomorrow morning, but instead of going to their classrooms they will stand outside for the first two periods of the day.
The walkout is in support of their teachers as they negotiate contracts with the province, but it's also to denounce pressure tactics by teachers' unions, like cutting out extra-curricular activities.
"I feel what the government has been doing to the teachers isn't right. And also the way the teachers are fighting back against the government is also wrong. I don't think that's fair to students, especially students who are graduating," said Bradley Schapp, a Grade 11 student at John Rennie High School and one of the student organizers behind the protest.
All four schools are part of the Lester B. Pearson School Board.
School board discourages walkout
Suanne Stein Day, the chairman of the board, says she's discouraging students from walking out despite being proud of them for standing up for an issue.
"The fact that they want to protest is not an issue with us. The problem is the timing of it. We are responsible for the safety, supervision and security of students while they're in classes," Day said.
"If 1,000 students start walking out of classes during class time, there's no way that we can supervise them all and there's no way that we can ensure their security and safety."
Schapp says even though the school board is asking students to not walk out, he's planning on doing it anyway. He says his parents have been supportive and are planning on attending the walk out tomorrow.
