Ferguson-Florissant High School Students Hold Peaceful Protests

Students at each of the three high schools in the Ferguson-Florissant School District engaged in peaceful protests today in response to recent events in Ferguson.

Beginning shortly after 8 a.m., approximately 300 to 400 students at McCluer High School and 150 to 200 students at McCluer North High School participated in demonstrations.

The students at McCluer High School initially gathered in the school’s commons area (the “Hub”). Some students spoke.  At 9:55 a.m., about 300 students walked out of the school down South Waterford Drive toward McCluer North High School. School staff walked with the group of students. Florissant police were aware of the protests and stood by as the students demonstrated peacefully.

McCluer North High School students initially assembled on the school’s track and then walked past the District Administration building next to the school and across Waterford Drive to the James J. Eagan Center.  The students held signs and chanted slogans. School administrators and teachers accompanied the students as they walked and Florissant Police blocked traffic to ensure the students’ safety as they crossed Waterford Drive. The students then returned to the McCluer North campus and the majority of the students who participated in the demonstration re-entered the school.

When a group of approximately 200 McCluer High School students reached the McCluer North High School campus on Waterford Drive, the group assembled peacefully in front of the school and continued to protest alongside a number of McCluer North students.

The District dispatched transportation to pick up the McCluer students from McCluer North. Students chose to walk, and are currently being monitored by District staff and administrators as well as local law enforcement as they make their way back to McCluer High School.

At approximately 10:45 a.m., approximately 150-200 students at McCluer South-Berkeley High School peacefully demonstrated, walking out of the school at 11:15 a.m. and traveling north along South Florissant Road. The students, accompanied by the school principal and police, traveled north to the Walgreens store on Florissant Rd., where District buses picked up the students and returned them to the school around 1 p.m.

Administrators and teachers will facilitate conversations about the recent events in Ferguson with students as they return to class. Ferguson-Florissant is also ensuring that students who need additional assistance receive the help they need with more than 40 additional social workers and counselors from Great Circle, the Special School District (SSD) and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, joining the District’s 32 on-staff counselors and 10 social workers to support students this week.

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