Dozens of students and parents protested near the main entrance to Charleston High School early this week while classes were underway inside.
The group, about 75 strong as of 9 a.m. Monday, were assembled along a sidewalk adjacent to Cossar Avenue, which runs parallel to the western border of the campus.
Many of the high school students, who were skipping school, held posters bearing messages such as “Stop Bullying the Students and Teachers,” “We are Humans, Not Criminals,” “Student Voices Matter” and “The Power of the People is Stronger than the People in Power.”
For a short time, the students chanted, “We want justice. We want respect.”
“They’re exercising their First Amendment rights,” Dianne Taylor, president of the Tallahatchie County NAACP, was overheard saying.
Parent Leatha Gary said the idea for the protest was spawned during a gathering at her home Sunday night.
She said students and parents have a long list of grievances that administrators have failed to address, so the public display was seen as the best way to get attention and, hopefully, action.
First-year East Tallahatchie School District Superintendent Dr. Darron Edwards disagreed that the protest was necessary, calling it “unfortunate” and saying, “There’s a better way of working through problems without taking kids out of school.”
Still, he admitted, “I think we had some legitimate concerns voiced by the students.”
Among the complaints expressed by students or parents to a reporter on Monday is that students have not been given a handbook of written rules and policies, which they normally receive at the beginning of each new school year.
Lamented student D’Atria Kimble, “Without a handbook, we don’t know the rules. They make up the rules as they go.”
Explained Edwards, “The delay with the handbook, I’ll take the blame for that. We did make some changes, but over 85 percent of the handbook is identical to last year. There were very few changes made. The handbook is at the printer now and we expect to have it available to distribute to the students on Friday.”
Some parents charged that there has been an increase in the incidence and duration of student suspensions this year, blaming new policies and stricter administrators.
Edwards suggested that some of the discontent among both students and parents is due to an unwillingness to accept, adapt and adhere to changes that were made by school administration with the safety and betterment of the students and staff in mind.
“Some of the parents that are out there [protesting], their students have been suspended, so they’re not skipping school, they’re not being taken out of school — they’re out of school because they’ve broken the rules,” he said. “Some of the things that the students are addressing are the result of structure and discipline that’s being put in school.”
Despite emphasis on discipline, Edwards said charges that student grades are being reduced as punishment for misbehavior are disturbing.
“That is unacceptable,” he stressed. “We’re not going to penalize a student academically for behavioral issues.”
The superintendent also said certain other grievances voiced by students and parents — including one charge made by a mother who said her daughter was told she would need a doctor’s excuse permitting her to leave class and go to the bathroom to change a feminine hygiene product during her menstrual cycle, and another complaint by a student who said she was forced to walk the several blocks home to change instead of being allowed to drive her car home from the school parking lot after having soiled her clothes while on her period, among others — are being investigated and will be addressed.
“We’re looking into those concerns,” he said. “It’s going to take a little time.”
While not discounting anyone’s issue, the superintendent said he has also heard plenty of misinformation.
“There were rumors that protesting students were going to be suspended, and that’s just not true,” he noted. “So many things are circulating now and it’s just getting blown all out of proportion.”
Edwards said he hosted two separate meetings Monday morning at the district office, one featuring a group of about 45 student protesters and another with roughly an equal number of parents, to hear their concerns and to discuss how to proceed.
“We had a great dialogue. I wanted to make sure that the narrative be about what is best for the students,” the superintendent noted. “I said, let’s agree with this going forward: If your child has a concern, don’t let them skip school or miss school. The lines of communication are open to me. My number one priority is the students. I think we made a lot of progress.”
Edwards said he met late Monday with school administrators at CHS to investigate some of the concerns.
“I think we resolved some of those issues that are, in my opinion, just due to some poor communication,” he said.
By Tuesday morning, Edwards said most of the students who had skipped class the day before were back in school, although there were some students and parents still protesting and a few who threatened to continue until their demands are met.
The superintendent said anyone with a school-related grievance that cannot be resolved at the classroom or school level is encouraged to contact him or meet with him. If the issue still cannot be settled, it can be presented to the school board.
In the final analysis, Edwards noted, “I am very optimistic that we are going to work through these problems. It is my core belief that we all want what is best for the students of the East Tallahatchie School District and, in this case specifically, Charleston High School.”
IN THE PHOTO: Part of a crowd of about 75 students and parents congregate on the sidewalk on the west side of Charleston High School Monday morning, where they were protesting over a number of school-related grievances. (Photo by Clay McFerrin)
