Students at Seneca Valley High School and beyond want 学校 administration and political leaders to better ensure 学校 安全 following recent threats and 暴力.
“All the shelters-in-place, 的封锁, the unexpected bomb threats we’ve been having,” said Yeimy Arango, a senior at Seneca Valley who organized the protest. “And it’s not just that — we’ve been having so many fights at 学校.”
Several 学生 gathered outside the Germantown 学校 with signs to protest for their right to 安全 at 学校. They were supported by 学生 from Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg.
“We wanted to show our solidarity with Seneca Valley because this is a community issue, not a 学校 issue,” said Hasham Khan, a senior at Watkins Mill.
Just last week, 学生 at Seneca Valley were 疏散两次 due to 安全 threats, including reports of a bomb threat. Students also sheltered in place in October after the 学校 received another threat, and in the same month a football game against Northwest High School was cut short following a series of student fights.
Arango started a 请愿书 detailing student demands. It had 171 signatures as of Friday evening. According to the 请愿书, demands include transparency during/after conflicts, policies for more restorative services for 学生, mandatory mental health screening, more counselors and a more secure sign-in system, among other asks. Arango said 学生 plan to take it to the county council and the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) 学校 board. She said they are not blaming 学校 administration but want to work with them to create a safer 学校 environment.
Juan Arango is a county contractor who works at Seneca Valley. He joined the protest to support 学生, including his younger sister.
“It’s just been crazy, what’s been going on at the 学校s. I’ve had to call off of work three or four times already just because there’s a gun threat, or there’s a bomb threat,他说.
On Thursday, MCPS posted a 声明 after social media posts circulated about threats of 暴力 against 学校s nationwide to occur on Friday. MCPS said the threats, which mention a 学校 shooting or bomb threat, were also made toward 学校s locally but there was no indication of credibility. 仍然, the 学校 system and police department will continue to monitor social media and investigate any threats.
“Instead of just sending out generic text messages, they need to actually tell us to stay home, shut down 学校 for a day, because our lives are more important than what we’re learning in 学校,” said Khady Mbodj, a senior at Watkins Mill High School.
“We don’t want to have a situation where they are saying their condolences to their families. We want to prevent it before it’s even happening.”
Students from Seneca Valley and Watkins Mill High Schools want 学校 administration and local legislators to do more to ensure 安全 across MCPS following recent threats and 暴力. @mymcmedia 图片.推特.com/ZkbaTT4Dqx
— Maryam沙赫扎德 (@maryam_mcm) 12月 17, 2021
