- November 23, 2024
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FPC student Jada Dotson. Courtesy photo
Jack Petocz speaks to FPC students, wome of whom wave rainbow flags. Courtesy photo Alysa Vidal/Cameron Driggers
Jack Petocz
FPC students return to class after the protest. Courtesy photo by Alysa Vidal/Cameron Driggers
Matanzas students march along the track. Courtesy photo by Emelia Kern
Matanzas organizers passed out rainbow armbands in advance of the protest. Courtesy photo by Emelia Kern.
Student activists who organized walkouts on March 3 at Flagler Palm Coast and Matanzas high schools to protest the Florida Legislature’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, say they made their point.
FPC junior Jack Petocz, who led the FPC rally and spearheaded the protests that took place at 18 or more other high schools around the state, paid the price.
Student organizers said about 500 students participated in the FPC walkout and about 150 to 200 participated in the Matanzas walkout.
Petocz was suspended indefinitely from school pending investigation, according to fellow FPC organizer Cameron Driggers, and several news reports.
Petocz confirmed the indefinite suspension on Twitter.
“Given that he was the face of the protests and previous protests, he was the one held responsible,” Driggers said. “He was accused of being disruptive.”
FPC principal Greg Schwartz did not immediately respond to the Palm Coast Observer for comment.
The school district released a statement stating that walkouts violate a School Board policy and students who participate “shall be deemed guilty of serious misconduct and shall be subject to suspension or dismissal from school. That being said, in the past our school administrators have successfully worked with students who have held walkouts to take part in a peaceful protest, while not interfering with the learning environment of students who do not wish to participate. That is the same in this case.
“District administrators worked this week with the principals at both high schools to establish a plan of action to allow for the student protest.”
Flagler Schools statement
“District administrators worked this week with the principals at both high schools to establish a plan of action to allow for the student protest.”
The students were demonstrating against a bill the Florida House passed on Feb. 24 and a Senate committee passed onto the full Senate on Feb. 28. The bill would prohibit discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
In higher grade levels, the bill would not allow teaching such concepts in a manner that is “not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students” as determined by state academic standards.
Videos showed FPC students shouting, “Say gay, say gay, say gay.”
“We will say gay,” Petocz said to the crowd through a bullhorn.
The FPC protest took place at about 9:30 a.m., while the Matanzas walkout took place at about 12:30 p.m. Both rallies took place on the track inside the football stadiums.
While there were counter protesters at the FPC walkout and reports of an altercation, the Matanzas walkout went smoothly, organizer Emelia Kern said.
“It was a huge success. I’ve never felt such hope for the future and such an outpouring of love from the community, the teachers, the administrators and the students. People who are impacted by this bill were genuinely happy to see so many people in support of them.”
EMELIA KERN, Matanzas walkout organizer
“The turnout was incredible,” she said. “It was a huge success. I’ve never felt such hope for the future and such an outpouring of love from the community, the teachers, the administrators and the students. People who are impacted by this bill were genuinely happy to see so many people in support of them.”
Kern said that while the bill targets classroom discussion in primary grades, she said if it passes it “could potentially lead to further censorship and erasure.”
Kern said Matanzas organizers also distributed flyers with information on how to contact Flagler County representatives and how and when to register to vote.
Both rallies were scheduled to last 15 minutes, the student organizers said, but while the Matanzas rally did last 15 minutes, the FPC rally was cut short, said Driggers.
“They explicitly gave us permission to hold this walkout,” Driggers said. “They gave us 15 minutes, and tried to cut it shorter by 6 or 7 minutes. Jack wasn’t going to be silenced.”
In one video shared by the organizers, Schwartz tells student organizers to go back to class, and Petocz announces, “We do have to go back to class, everyone.”
A change.org petition calling for Petocz’s suspension to be rescinded had over 2,200 signatures later that night.
Driggers said Petocz was told an hour before the walkout that the organizers could not distribute gay-pride flags, but Petocz had already purchased 200 miniature rainbow flags.
The district statement said “student leaders were told ‘no flags’ prior to and at the beginning of the event so as to avoid undue safety concerns and campus disruptions.”
“We were being compliant to all of the rules we agreed to (earlier).”
CAMERON DRIGGERS, FPC student organizer
“That was their official reason (for the suspension),” Driggers said. “We were being compliant to all of the rules we agreed to (earlier).”
The district’s statement went on to say, “School administration spoke with the event organizer numerous times about the expectations and parameters so that students could take part in a peaceful, safe protest.”
Driggers said the flags were deemed a political symbol, but he said they represent a community of people.
“To say you’re being political by standing up for your identity is insulting to LGBTQ people,” Driggers said.
Kern said the Matanzas organizers honored the “no flags” requirement.
She said, originally the organizers were just going to hand out rainbow armbands to show solidarity with the statewide protests.
“I had thought Matanzas students would be more likely to support something not as bold as a walkout,” Kern said. “But once I got so much support for the arm-band protest, I realized we had a lot more support than I thought we had.”
She said they started advertising the walkout early in the week and school administrators gave them guidelines.
“(The administrators) were completely supportive, and I’m grateful,” Kern said. “It’s very unfortunate what happened at FPC. When we first walked out on the track, some students wanted to be in opposition to us, but they were the minority, and on the whole everyone was respectful. There were a ton of people standing in solidarity with their LGBTQ classmates.”
Driggers said the mission was to make a statement, and he believed they accomplished that.
“We demonstrated we do care about our future,” he said. “And we’ll take our future in our own hands.”
