Suspended students return, don’t protest again

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

HALE

Students suspended for last week’s sit-in at Warren County High School returned to class Wednesday as a rumored sequel to the protest over the school’s dress code failed to materialize.

“We had two who showed up with something in, but then they decided they wanted to go to class so they took them out,” said Director of Schools Jerry Hale of the ban on wearing body piercings which led to the protest last week. “They were all back in class as of Wednesday.”

There were 34 students, mostly freshmen, suspended for three days for failure to go to class last week during a sit-in outside the principal’s office at the high school. The sit-in was held to communicate the disapproval by some students of the school’s ban on wearing body piercings or body piercing retainers at school.

The sit-in began with over 50 participants with 34 deciding not to go to class when warned to do so by school officials.

Principal James Bennett said the issue is not one of style or taste, but instead is a question of safety, noting piercings could be torn out during a fight or accidentally swallowed in the case of tongue piercings. The suspensions came about, Bennett said, because the students who refused to disperse were causing a disruption by ignoring authority. School officials had warned a similar refusal to go to class by those returning from suspension would cost them additional suspension time.

While some of the protesters have vowed to continue resisting the dress code, the focus may now turn to teachers at the school as Hale said at least one teacher at the school with a piercing could now come under the rule.

“Since this is a safety issue, I would think the rule needs to apply to everyone, teachers and students alike,” Hale said, noting Bennett intends to talk to the teacher about the issue when she returns from some time off.