PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Pine Bluff Superintendent Barbara Warren met with high schoolers Monday, less than a week after students left class in protest.
Pine Bluff High School students asked for more support from their school as gun violence claimed the life of a classmate.
Pine Bluff High School 10th grader Claire Shepard helped organize the protest and says she doesn't feel safe at school.
"The student that passed away two weeks ago, all he did was walk off campus and got shot. And we feel like if there was more security, and safety like that, that wouldn't have happened," Shepard said.
This week students are still asking for more security and active response to violence in the city.
Shepard explained that safety on and around campus is a necessity. "Some kids, they go to school to escape from, you know, the streets or their home, if they don't feel safe at school, then what's the point of, you know, going to school?"
Superintendent Warren said she addressed these issues in meetings with grades 9 through 12 on Monday.
"Student Council representatives and officers posed questions to me on behalf of their class based on a survey they gave their classmates," she said. "I committed to a future round of discussions."
But to Shepard and some of her classmates, its not enough. Shepard said they students will plan a "sick-out" if more action isn't taken soon.
And the students aren't the only ones concerned as dozens of Pine Bluff community members held their own meeting Monday night to share failures they see within the school district.
Cameras were not allowed at the meeting to protect the identity of any current school staff.
"The whole community is experiencing frustration with the way that [Superintendent Warren]'s handling the district," meeting host and retired teacher Charline Wright said.
And similar to the students, these community members say they want more action from school leadership.
"We're going to start our petition drive of no confidence, along with other avenues that we have," Wright said.
Superintendent Warren also told us that she did not know any details about the community meeting Monday, but added that she is still open to recommendations from students about how to better support them.