Nearly 23,000 Fulton County students participated in Wednesday demonstrations, after the district relaxed its initial stance that would have barred students from participating in nationwide school walkouts to protest gun violence.
Fulton County Schools still describes the activities not as walkouts but as "expressions of support" for victims of the Feb. 14 Parkland, Fla. school shooting that killed 17 people. The district initially said it would not allow students to participate, but then softened its position after outcry from many students and parents.
Fulton has an enrollment of about 97,000 students. Spokeswoman Donna Lowry said Thursday that nearly 23,000 Fulton students participated in Wednesday's activities at 36 middle and high schools throughout the county. The district did control the events, however, and at Cambridge High School students were cut off as they made a speech about gun control. The principal said the speech went "off-script" from the approved walkout plan.
No Fulton students received any discipline for their involvement, Lowry said. Gwinnett and Cobb school districts said students who walked out would be punished, and students who participated in those counties are waiting to find out what the penalty will be.
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