"Most of the people who were true to the cause were just talking to each other-talking to deans, police and supertindent and the students who would come. The other students weren't able to go near us, because all the deans were guiding them away from us and barricaded the doors and put caution tape.
The people who left at 2:15 didn't get into any trouble and the people who left at 2:20 got the pink slips 10 day suspension and possible expulsion hearing, and it said Mob Action.
They were taking pictures the whole time and once we moved they were videotaping.
Since then, a number of parents and students have gathered together to deal with the potential permanent expulsion, for "mob action" that the school charged them with on the suspension pink slip they received. The student told us,
We had this meeting yesterday and there were about 12 people there who actually got pink slips. But there could be more who we don't know about.There's a press conference tomorrow. We picked out people who were in the protest from the yearbook and tried getting their numbers so their parents could help fight the expulsion and ten day suspension.
OpEdNews also contacted a parent of one of the students. He reported, "They didn't destroy, hurt, disrupt anything. They even cleaned up afterwards."
The parent told OpEdNEws that a number of lawyers have offered to help, Pro Bono, the ACLU has called offering to help, numerous local papers have called, radio stations, and even BBC radio from Denmark.
But all the parents want is to get their kids back in school. Unfortunately, as one parent reports,
Some parents and I went in on Friday to beg and plead with the superintendent and he wasn't budging.
We haven't been able to get any schoolboard, school or superintendent. Nobody will return any phone calls to anybody. None of the media have been able to get them to call back either, including the Sun Times, some smaller papers, some radio stations, some anti-war groups. Nobody's been called back. They're not answering any questions, either.
The parent observed that a few weeks ago, one student had reported observing another student in the school with a gun. The principal decided not to take the information seriously, and put into effect the lockdown that guidelines called for.
Apparently, the observation was correct and later, according to Chicago Indymedia, police, acting on a tip, arrested a student who confessed to bringing an unloaded semiautomatic handgun into the school. The parent observed, "A few weeks ago, a student went in to the school with a gun and proper procedures were not followed. So now, the superintendent is trying to use our kids to detour attention..."
This parent thinks the superintendent is on his way out of his job.
Here's the Statement from the School Superintendent
In response to yesterday's student protest disruption of classes at Morton West, Morton High School District 201 Superintendent Ben Nowakowski released the following statement:
At 10:45 am on Thursday, November 1, I was notified that approximately 35 students had staged a sit-in protest of the War in Iraq at the Morton West High School cafeteria.
Upon my arrival at the West campus, the students were informed by school administration and Berwyn Police that their actions constituted a disruption to the school day. They were afforded the opportunity to take their protest outside where they would not be impeding the educational process and, if they did so, the would face no disciplinary action. Several members of the group elected to return to their classes. Other members of the group locked arms and refused to move from their location.
The rest of the Moron West student body was held in their classrooms while the situation was handled by administration and Berwyn Police. After some time and negotiation, the students ultimately moved from the cafeteria to the an area of the hallway adjacent to the principal's office. Once those students were relocated, the normal school day schedule was resumed and students were released from their classrooms for the lunch period.
The 25 students who elected not to disperse will be brought up for appropriate disciplinary proceedings as provided for in the school code of conduct. The parents of the offending students have been notified.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
