A California high school teacher who was on paid administrative leave over her views about the national school walk out, is now back to work.
Julianne Benzel of Rocklin High School was placed on leave after she opened up a debate about the politics of the protest in her classroom.
Benzel said she did not discourage students from taking part in the walkout.
“And so I just kind of used the example, which I know it’s really controversial, but I know it was the best example I thought of at the time — a group of students nationwide, or even locally, decided ‘I want to walk out of school for 17 minutes’ and go in the quad area and protest abortion, would that be allowed by our administration?"
In an interview with the Sacramento CBS affiliate, Benzel said “If you’re going to allow students to walk up and get out of class without penalty then you have to allow any group of students that wants to protest".
A Rocklin School District spokesperson said Benzel was put on paid leave because of "several complaints from parents and students involving the teacher’s communications regarding the student-led civic engagement activities.”
Responding to a request from The Armstrong & Getty Show, the district stated the Benzel "was not penalized or placed on leave based on her viewpoints".
On Friday, students from her class organized another walk-out to show their support for the teacher.
Stay tuned to the Armstrong & Getty Show for more on this story.