Facing consequences

When lunch ended, the protest ended. Several students attest that those not involved with the protest were able to return to a normal rest of their school day. However, this was not the case for 13 students accused of violating school policies during the protest.

“There were 13 of us. We were all being suspended and told we would have expulsion hearings. Eleven students unenrolled and transferred, and two decided to stay. I think that because so many left, they just dropped the expulsion hearings for the two staying, and for me, they expunged it from my record,” said Victor. 

Of the two staying, one was suspended for five days and was not allowed to return to class for two weeks. The other was suspended four days later than the first, but they both returned on Sept. 8. 

Additional repercussions for the suspended protestors staying at d.tech include an essay about the protest and how it was harmful to the teacher, 10 hours of community service, and weekly check-ins.

D.tech suspended Victor on the grounds of vandalism, harassment, and protest organization. 

Other suspended students felt that the suspensions were justifications for leaving. One of those students is Devyn*, who didn’t stay long enough to learn the specifics of his suspension.

“They gave me a two-day suspension for being on the group chat without texting on it and being towards the front of the protest without saying anything. I didn’t get that far into the specifics. The fact that they suspended me was pretty ridiculous. I wanted to get out of there,” said Devyn.

D.tech didn’t address any grounds for suspension in a statement responding to an interview request: “We can’t discuss the details of any student discipline matter.”