KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. She previously spoke with the parent of a student supporting the Trump Administration involved in the protest. Olathe Northwest High School students reached out to share their perspective of the incident. Share your story idea with Isabella.
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Two Kansas Republican state senators are demanding answers from the Olathe School District following last week's walkout that ended with a fight and four students arrested.
The walkout that turned into a fight happened outside of Olathe Northwest High School.
Students protesting ICE walked out of school around 2 p.m. on Feb. 20. At the same time, another group of students showed their support for the Trump Administration on the other side of the street.
Four students were hurt during the incident. In addition to the 17-year-old boy charged with aggravated battery, an 18-year-old female was taken into custody and two boys, ages 15 and 17, were cited and released following the fight.
Kansas lawmakers call for accountability from school district
Kansas State Senator Doug Shane, representing Johnson and Miami counties, released a joint statement with Kansas State Senator Beverly Gossage. The two expressed concern the Olathe School District 'failed' to prevent the situation from happening.
"We are concerned that [Olathe] district administration failed to demonstrate clear leadership to preempt such an event from occurring in the first place and are concerned that the administration has lacked suitable remedy and accountability measures in response to these events," Senators Shane and Gossage wrote in part.
KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne spoke with State Senator Shane after the statement was released.
"I think if students are being permitted to leave a school building without the written consent and permission of their parent, I think that's cause of significant concern," State Senator Shane said. "How do we facilitate civic dialogue in a way that doesn't disrupt the school day?"
The Olathe School District sent KSHB 41 News a statement regarding the senators' comments.
"Their choice to make a public statement without first seeking an understanding of the facts from all parties involved not only feels irresponsible to our shared community of constituents, but also leads us to believe that their intentions to release a statement were disingenuous," the statement read in part*. "Prior to their statement, neither senator asked the district for information regarding the event, requested details about our process or discipline procedures nor did they inquire about the legal boundaries we are obligated to operate within."
Calls from parent whose son, supporting the Trump administration, was hurt during the protest
Earlier this week, KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne sat down with a parent of a student supporting the Trump Administration. He explained his son was attacked by students protesting ICE who had crossed the street to confront the pro-Trump group.
"No one should ever come to you with violence for your opinion or your belief," Bogdan Zaslavsky said. "These videos that are heartbreaking, that you would never want to ever see your child involved in."
He expressed his frustrations with the school administration not stepping in sooner to intervene in the fight.
"I don't understand how they're there to help and protect, then when they walk across the street, they're watching all of this happen," Zaslavsky said.
In a letter sent to parents, Olathe School District explained staff members cannot guarantee student safety off campus.
"Staff members do not participate in walkouts but observe from a short distance to help ensure student safety," Olathe Northwest High School principal Chris Zuck wrote in part. "When students leave campus, however, we cannot guarantee supervision. In this instance, our district Safety Services team and our partners at the Olathe Police Department worked quickly to stop the off-campus altercation."
Olathe student protesting ICE shares the other side
Multiple videos circulating on social media show small snippets of a bigger nationwide issue — violence at political events like protests and walkouts.
Adeline Maturey emailed Ledonne after Monday night's initial coverage on the protest. She wanted to share her side and address what's being shared on social media.
"Violence, especially just for displaying another belief, is absolutely not the answer," Adeline said. "It escalated very fast."
Adeline explained the walkout protesting ICE and immigration policies was planned in advance, and organizers let the school know. The school district sent communication to parents in advance regarding the walkout.
Adeline's father, Craig Maturey, explained they discussed the protest with Adeline ahead of time and the consequences that could come with leaving school unexcused.
“Even though we knew it would be unexcused absence from school, it was something that she felt very passionate about," Maturey said. "We wanted to encourage that belief."
Adeline explained nearly 300 students walked out of class on Friday and saw about six students waving Trump flags across the street. The pro-Trump students followed the anti-ICE students route on the opposite side of the street. They started yelling at the ICE protesters, according to Adeline.
A group of anti-ICE protesters crossed the street toward the pro-Trump protesters before the fight broke out. Adeline explained she did not engage in any of the violent acts, but was watching it unfold.
"I do not believe we should have ever crossed the street," Adeline said. "I think we should have rerouted, as they have the freedom to protest and I didn't want to get involved with that."
Adeline was recording a video before she got hit with a flag pole, spraining her finger and wrist.
"I did not expect that at all, for it to escalate the way it did," Adeline said. "We should all respect each other's opinions and not use violence."
Maturey knew his daughter was going to walk out and had talked about it with her before the event. He never expected his daughter or any other students to get hurt.
"I was panicked for a few minutes there, I couldn't get ahold of her," Maturey said. "It is currently part of the general climate we're living in these days and I'm just thankful that it wasn't any worse for her or for anyone else at the school."
Maturey explained he's not upset with the school, despite his daughter getting hurt in the walkout.
"There were hundreds of people out there," he said. "I think it was kind of impossible at that point for staff to have done anything additional to prevent the incident as it was occurring. I don't think the schools should do any more to prevent [walkouts]. These are teenagers that have a constitutional right to go out, a first amendment right to make their voices heard."
Moving forward, Maturey plans to have more discussions about safety during protests with his daughter.
"Accountability, I think it goes not only to the students, but to the parents having the conversation, setting those expectations up front," Maturey said. "You can be a part of the protest, but don't have to maybe be as close to where the action can obviously be a flash point."
Adeline plans to continue expressing her beliefs.
"I see a lot of people on social media saying it's an excuse to skip class, but in the past, student walkouts have been proven to work and I do think it helps bring attention," Adeline said. "If there was another walkout at my school, I would still go."
*Full statement from Olathe School District regarding the two state senator's statement:
Superintendent Dr. Brent Yeager received an email from Senator Shane informing him of their plan to release a statement. Dr. Yeager received this email three minutes before the statement was made public. This was the only time either senator communicated with any district official about this event prior to publishing their press release.
Their choice to make a public statement without first seeking an understanding of the facts from all parties involved not only feels irresponsible to our shared community of constituents, but also leads us to believe that their intentions to release a statement were disingenuous.
Prior to their statement, neither senator asked the district for information regarding the event, requested details about our process or discipline procedures, nor did they inquire about the legal boundaries we are obligated to operate within. In Dr. Yeager’s response, he offered to speak to both senators over the phone and provided his personal number, but has not received a call from either senator at this time. The district’s commitment to transparency and the offer to meet with our legislators regarding any concerns is still open and on the table should they reach out.
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