A St. Louis high school wouldn’t allow students to return for the rest of the school day after they walked out to protest gun violence on Monday.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that more than 100 students at Riverview Gardens High School participated in the walkout. However, school officials told students they wouldn’t be allowed to return to campus or ride school buses home if they took part in the protests.
Some of the students tried to return to campus but were turned away by officials.
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Many students also said officials threatened to suspend them if they walked out, but an administrator disputed those claims.
“The district stands on allowing students to use their voices,” assistant superintendent of schools Chaketa Riddle told the Post-Dispatch.
One parent who joined in the protest told the publication that she received an automated voice message from a school official saying that students who participate in the walkout could be disciplined.
“I think it’s wrong, and they will hear from me,” parent Tracy Cross said.
Students at schools across the country have been holding walkouts in protest of gun violence since the mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school earlier this month that left 17 people dead.
Several colleges and universities have told applicants that any disciplinary action taken against them for protesting gun violence won’t impact admissions decisions.