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Parents and community clash over student-led Newington High assembly; board seeks attendance clarification
Summary
Parents and residents offered opposing views on a student-organized, on-campus peaceful assembly at Newington High School, with some praising student civic engagement and others saying the event should not have occurred during school hours and questioning whether absences were excused under district policy.
At the Feb. 9 meeting of the Newington Board of Education, several residents addressed the board about a recent student-organized peaceful assembly at Newington High School, with sharply different views on whether the district appropriately managed the event.
"This event was student organized. It was their idea," said Jennifer Rodriguez, a parent, who told the board the walkout was voluntary, supervised and aimed to give students a safe space to show solidarity. Rodriguez said administrators ensured safety and that "teachers remained in their classrooms," and added that the district's student body is "approximately 50% students of color." (public comment)
Other speakers challenged that account. "I now believe the school helped to orchestrate this," said Jamie Larero, a parent, who said she learned new information hours before the meeting and raised safety and attendance concerns. Larero asked why the district would excuse absences for protest, and urged the district to teach students how to engage civic processes such as looking up laws and contacting legislators rather than demonstrating during class time. (public comment)
Board members and administrators described the event as held during advisory and said students were asked to sign in and were accounted for. Doctor Stanley asked the administration to clarify how absences were coded and who made the decision to excuse them, saying the attendance policy was a common source of parental concern. "That may be where many questions are getting stuck for parents," Stanley said during board remarks.
Several board members and public commenters framed the walkout as a civics lesson, emphasizing students' rights to free expression while also pressing for clearer procedural answers about attendance coding. Administrators said they would follow up with the board to explain how the district recorded student participation and whether the action met the technical definition of an excused absence under Policy 5 1 1 3.2, which a public speaker cited during the meeting.
The board did not take formal disciplinary action or vote on the walkout at this meeting; members asked the administration for follow-up information and to consider holding a fact-based assembly to address community questions about what happened and why.
