'Let's see if that counts for 2A or pro-Trump': Virginia school system to allow absences for student protests (will there be exceptions?)

Doug P. | 3:54 PM on December 28, 2019

The student “climate strikes” that have taken place in the U.S. and around the world have apparently inspired one school district in Virginia to offer students time off to take part free from any consequence:

Virginia school system implements landmark new policy allowing absences for student protests https://t.co/ujDyx9W3sH pic.twitter.com/Rg2BzyFBFi

— The Hill (@thehill) December 28, 2019

From The Hill:

Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools has implemented a landmark policy allowing students to take time off to participate in protests.

Beginning Jan. 27, the school district will allow students in seventh through 12th grades one excused absence per year to participate in “civic engagement activities,” according to multiple news outlets.

Fairfax School Board member Ryan McElveen, who reportedly introduced the policy, said the rule may be the first of its kind in the U.S. and was made in response to a recent wave of student activism across the country.

So it’s come to this?

Where are you sending your child for 8 hours a day? https://t.co/49BvapBpMO

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) December 28, 2019

In other news, homeschooling in VA skyrockets. https://t.co/sQpxiqUChE

— Michelle (@shelseybel) December 28, 2019

However, we’re joining others in guessing there will be exceptions to the school system’s leniency:

What, after all, could possibly go wrong, said the ominously narrator-sounding voice https://t.co/GcKbPMKbUL

— Herostratos (@amenalkHelios) December 28, 2019