By PAUL ROWLEY & SUSAN RIEMER

Reporter & Editor

Vashon students joined a national walk out coordinated by the group Women’s March Youth Empower last Wednesday to end gun violence targeting American schools in the wake of the attack in Parkland, Florida. Behind the scenes, some of their teachers found the administrative response to the growing movement inadequate, but Superintendent Michael Soltman holds that the district was in no position to elect a stance.

At McMurray Middle School, a large group of students gathered in front of the building talking among themselves and sometimes joining in the chant, “Enough is enough.” Some were wearing bright orange, and a smaller number had signs, including Aidan Green, who held up a handmade “#Enough” sign.

“Part of my family is from Florida. It was scary for me,” he said, referring to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting last month. “I want to put an end to this.”

A group of girls, holding letters that spelled out “#never again,” lined up in formation and led the chanting for a time.

A small group of children and parents also joined the crowd from Chautauqua Elementary School. Chautauqua reading specialist Jenni Wilke attended as the mother of Phoebe Wilke, one of the girls holding part of the “never again” sign.

“I feel like I want to support the youth as they try to tackle the problem that adults have failed to solve,” she said.

Fourth-grade Will was among them, holding a drawing of a gun with an “X” through it. His mom, KellieAnn Henley, works in the Chautauqua office.

“I told her I wanted to do the walk because it wasn’t fair others were being shot,” he said. “They came to learn.”

His classmate Lena was there, too, holding an orange hand-lettered sign with her message.

“There should be safety for all kids and no guns in schools,” she said.

Across the nation, reports of some schools issuing punishments to students for participating in the walkout were common. The event marked one month since the shooting in Parkland, Florida. Students left their classrooms beginning on the East Coast and moving west at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes in remembrance of the victims.

The group at McMurray ended their 17 minutes outside with a moment of silence.

Afterward, Principal Greg Allison said that the students organized the event themselves.

“A number of them took leadership. It was not guided by us,” he said.

He added that prior to Wednesday, several classes discussed activism and civil disobedience, including their historical context and current relevance.

“The kids took it from there,” he said.

Nearby, approximately 50 Vashon High School students exited the building in near silence and gathered beneath the flag pole outside the main entry. Using a microphone, Katy Sassara read the names of each victim killed during the rampage.

“If it were not for the fact that an 18 year old boy was allowed to buy an automatic weapon, this would not have happened,” she said.

There were nods of approval in the crowd, which included Principal Danny Rock, and a small number of adults who sympathized with the message. One carried an orange sign that read “#ENOUGH” written in dark marker.

“They say the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. They’re wrong,” said Sassara. “We are the coming generation, and we have had enough.”

They were not alone. Just a week before, a group of 15 Chautauqua teachers and staff submitted signed letters to the Vashon school board, calling for more on the part of administrators to open a dialogue about gun violence, to inform the community about future events related to the walkout and to pass their own district resolution urging legislators to pass tougher gun laws.

“People will look back on this period and question why it took our government so long to respond to such a devastating issue,” the letter read. “Vashon Island School District has the opportunity to firmly plant itself on the right side of history as it crafts its response for the community.”

The letter was clear in who was to blame for the apparent lack of urgency, recommending that the next step be one worth taking.

“It has been unfortunate and disappointing that our Superintendent, our principals and our Board has not responded sooner to this movement. Many of our students, staff and families are confused by this delay,” said the letter. “At this point, a bold response could inspire the community and alleviate some of the dismay.”

But Superintendent Soltman believes that the district is already doing its part, on the behalf of its students and the community.

“We encourage students to be active and to think about these things and to consider actions that they want to take,” he said. “We have a duty to create a forum that provides safety for a variety of positions and opinions that kids hold. And so we’re conscientious about that.”

Soltman said the position of the schools to assign an unexcused absence to students who miss class while participating in a walkout is in line with state law.

“Their attendance is required by state law, and a walkout is not permitted per state law as an unexcused absence. Though the consequences of that are very minor,” he said.

Not every district chose the same course of action. In the Seattle Public Schools, it was left to the discretion of administrators there whether students engaging in the walkout should be considered absent unexcused, according to Kim Schmanke, manager of communications. Some reportedly restructured the time to best accommodate their students, such as in elementary schools. If students continued to demonstrate beyond the 17 minutes or left school grounds, they would face consequences.

Soltman added that Vashon administration is keeping an eye out for ways to better involve itself in the future, if the students will allow it.

“What I hope would be different is that we would be in an opportunity to have a conversation with kids about actions that they would like to initiate,” said Soltman. “In general, our students were slow to organize this one, and there wasn’t much opportunity for us to be in the dialogue with them as a result. If this movement grows, it will allow us to be more in the conversation with them and involved in the process.”

Vashon School District faculty had been asking for that all along, and the teacher’s union sought the best way to proceed.

“The Vashon Education Association got involved after being approached by some teachers who wanted to be able to walk out with their students. To allow teachers to do this without violating our contract and our responsibilities as educators, we needed to come to an agreement with the district about how it would be handled,” said Vashon Education Association Co-Presidents Glenda Berliner and Sarah Hamill in an e-mail. “Teachers who walked out for the 17 minutes to be able to support their students took an hour of wellness leave.”

Ultimately, Superintendent Soltman maintains that the district does not have the capacity to lead on the thorny issue of gun safety.

“There’s a sense on the part of some folks that we should take a political stand on this. And we simply can’t,” he said. “We can’t use the students or the schools to promote one particular position. What we have to do is to create a forum for all students to express a variety of positions. It would be completely inappropriate for the school to take an activist role in this position.”

On Saturday, March 24, the National March for Our Lives will commence in Washington D.C. and cities across the United States, demanding a response from elected officials to act and reform current gun laws. A march has been planned on Vashon by islanders Kevin Jones and Zabette Macomber, chair of the Vashon school board, to begin at 11 AM outside the high school.

Jones says that the time is now to capitalize on the momentum that young people have built, resisting calls to walk up, not out — an aphorism shared on social media by a teacher in Virginia and by a grieving parent of a Parkland victim who doubts the movement’s ability to effect actual change.

“If you can do anything to help enable the voices of our students or any young people, to help engage in this public process, to create legislation that helps guide how we live, I am absolutely devoted to helping that happen,” he said. “I would like to help students identify that role that the legislative process has in their lives and engage with that process.”

Macomber, who attended the Women’s March in Seattle last January, said that she wanted to help seize the spirit she knew others felt but were unsure of what they could do.

“I realized that there are so many people who can’t make it to Seattle but who really wanted to be involved, and have this energy, and so it just made sense. I don’t want to be silent. I can’t be silent about this,” she said.