SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Sioux Falls schools chief Brian Maher says the schools will have a teachable moment at 10 a.m. Wednesday to mark the Florida shooting massacre.
"I want them to really focus on the loss of life and respect for loss of life," Maher said at a news conference today. "And then stand for school safety. We're not going to drill down into a political conversation."
Each school will do its own thing, but walkouts will not be permitted, said Maher.
"We want to use this as a teachable moment for our students and our school community," Maher said.
March 14th is the National School walkout protest. The Sioux Falls schools are not a part of that event, Maher emphasized.
Any students who do skip school will penalized in accordance with Sioux Falls School District policy--no more, no less--Maher said.
That policy gives a student detention for missing class on a first offense. Additional infractions are met with escalating sanctions, Maher said.
Click above to listen to the full news conference. Also click play in the video to watch most of Maher's press conference, where he also addressed additional state money, public engagement for new facilities, and the lunch kerfuffle of a few weeks ago.
(Mark Russo, KELO.com News, contributed to this report.)