A group of Onalaska high school students parked their cars off school grounds in protest of a friend’s suspension Friday, garnering a response from school administrators.
“There was not a protest,” Superintendent Jeff Davis said. “Well, people can call it what they want. We had a student who continually refused to follow school policy.”
Davis said there were five students who wanted to show support for their friend, so they parked their cars off school grounds.
The school policy mandates that students register their vehicles and park on campus. Davis said there was a student who continually parked their car off school grounds.
“The student was warned a number of times,” Davis said. “The policy is you get three warnings, then the fourth time suspension, then the suspension is longer. Now it’s to the point of suspension.”
Davis said the high school does not allow students to go back to their cars during the day.
“It’s a safety issue for us, and if you register to drive to school, then we provide a parking spot,” Davis said.
Davis said when the principal called the students into her office and asked them to move their cars, they complied. Onalaska High School Principal Dracy McCoy did not respond to multiple calls from The Chronicle.
“Nobody was threatened with not graduating,” Davis said, referring to a post on Facebook that was widely shared. “Everybody who was on track to graduate yesterday is still on track to graduate today.”
A Facebook post in the Onalaska Alliance group said the principal scheduled an emergency senior meeting and that a teacher was escorted off for supporting the students. Davis said he was not aware of an emergency meeting between the principal and parents of the seniors who participated in the protest. Davis would not comment on if a teacher was escorted off school grounds.
“That’s a personnel issue that I won’t speak to,” Davis said.
