Vermin Problem and Halloween 2007 Walkout
On October 31, 2007 Clarkstown North students, from grades ranging from 9th to 12th grade, held a walk-out to protest the sanitary conditions of the school. The protest started in front of the annex building and students walked to the far ball field. Students chanted and held signs from approximately 12:20pm to 1:00pm while a news helicopter hovered above.
This was the largest walkout in district history. The other previous walkout was in 1975 and happened because students were against the new rules regarding study halls.
Originally, Clarkstown North Students were planning to walk to Town Hall, in the heart of New City, New York. The plan was quickly scrapped as Clarkstown Police Department threatened to arrest anyone who left school grounds on account that it was unlawful assembly and the students could quickly turn into a riot.
The next evening, there was an emergency school board meeting in which students and parents spoke about the conditions at Clarkstown North. The meeting started at 7:30pm and went until 11:30pm. During the meeting, it was revealed that there were over 700 recorded absent students during the walkout, far more than the estimated 200-300. The following day, there was a meeting immediately after school for all students to discuss ways to improve Clarkstown North.
Read more about this topic: Clarkstown High School North
Famous quotes containing the words vermin and/or problem:
“I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little, odious vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“I used to be a discipline problem, which caused me embarrassment until I realized that being a discipline problem in a racist society is sometimes an honor.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)