Students stage walkout to demand safer schools and COVID-19 protections
CBSN
Students in Washington, D.C., are taking a stand to demand change from D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) amid a wave of nationwide protests. Dressed in red for education, high schoolers from some of the district's top public schools walked out of class in protest Tuesday afternoon to push for safer schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The protest is the latest in a wave of walkouts by students in cities across the nation, including in Chicago, the nation's third largest school district; Denver and Oakland. Days after some students walked out of school in Montgomery County, Maryland, which borders D.C., the district's students held their own walkout and virtual rally over Zoom.
Brianna Stallings, a senior at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, helped organize the D.C. protest, which was started by a group called Students 4 Safe Learning. Brianna and other participants said they don't feel safe in school. They want their schools to ensure COVID protocols are in place, including 100% testing for students and staff, KN95 mask distribution and the option for virtual schooling.
