The pushback on Keller ISD's proposal to split the district in two heated up again as students at various middle and high schools walked out of class Friday.
"Residents spoke out. Parents spoke out. Teachers lost their jobs to speak out. Now the final nail in the coffin, your students take this a step further, we walk out," said Heath Schiflett, one of the protest organizers.
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WATCH HEREWhile most students piled into friends' cars to head to the rally, Olivia Haley and her friends did it the old-fashioned way. They held handmade signs and walked the half mile to the rally spot, calmly explaining why they would take the punishments for walking out of school.
She says the district hasn't shared enough information about their center for advanced learning and if she will definitely be able to take classes there after the split.
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SIGN UP "If you're trying to get into KCAL (Keller Center for Advanced Learning) and the Keller ISD website, it says KCAL 'could' be shared, not 'would' be shared. I could share my french fries with you, but would I share my french fries with you?" asked Haley.
The students joined the outcry that's been going on in Keller for weeks. When the school board admitted they hired someone back in October to look into splitting Keller ISD along the railroad tracks along US 377/Denton Highway.
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The more affluent city of Keller would remain Keller ISD, and the other side of the tracks, where some 70% of the current students reside, would have to come up with a new district.
"We want to be together no matter what. We want to have the same opportunities as everyone else and you can't take that away from us," one of the students shared.
Parents drove by honking and showing support, as they have asked for the same thing as students, a chance for their voice to be heard, a chance to vote on this plan. But the school board has not answered those calls.
"This is their future, this is their education, this should not be happening behind closed doors," said a parent.
When the superintendent said she sided with the parents and the board was wrong, she disappeared and a new interim superintendent is now in place.
"I don't know whether we stand here as stars or as martyrs, but I do know we stand here strong. We stand here, unified against those that work to divide us," said Schiflett
The tension is so high an adult even showed up to the rally cursing at the kids and telling them to shut up.
The students say they will keep speaking up, and keep fighting back, hoping to stay unified as Keller ISD.
