By Ben Rowe
A number of student protesters who defiantly walked out of local high schools Wednesday have been suspended.
About 200 students from three school boards took part in the walkout, but the total number of suspensions was unavailable at press time.
The students were angry about the "new curriculum" and the required 40 hours of volunteer service now needed to graduate.
Another contentious point is the "double cohort," where the elimination of OAC (grade 13) has caused a flood of applications to universities.
Regan Corelli, spokesperson for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, said the suspensions weren't so much because of the fact students were protesting, but rather because they skipped classes to do so, and that school policy was merely being followed.
"It's part of the actual policy," Corelli explained. "If you skip classes, you're suspended, and that's exactly what the students were doing."
There were roughly 45 students from the Catholic Board schools who walked out. Some were given two-day suspensions.
The Rainbow District School Board only suspended students who "did not return to class" after the walkout, said Rainbow Board spokesperson David Brazeau.
About 50 students from the Rainbow Board schools walked out.
The largest number of walkouts took place under the banner of the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel Ontario, the francophone Catholic school board, where about 120 students took part, according to a board spokesperson.
