Students walk out of class, protest school leaders in Bellevue

A student walk-out at a Bellevue high school put the school on lockdown Friday, as students expressed their frustration with school and district leaders.

Newport High School students chanted, “We want action,” after a student who says she is a victim of physical abuse claims the school nor the district have done enough to make her feel safe on campus.

“I came out about being assaulted by another student at Newport High School,” says 17-year-old Alex Su, who spoke to KIRO 7 TV with the permission of parents.

“It was really nice to know that so many people supported me and so many people that I didn’t even know were coming up to me and telling me that they supported me,” Su said.

She added that she and the student organizers have since been expelled.

“We are literally begging for help, and you’re expelling us,” she said. “That doesn’t make any sense. We are begging for help and they are openly turning us away.”

The school ended up going into a lockdown to get a handle on what they called a substantial disruption to the educational process.

In a statement to KIRO 7 TV, district leaders said: “Our school made the decision to go into lockdown status because the school environment was unsafe as a result of those actions.”

“I think that the Bellevue School District is really well known for putting this inclusivity front and this whole like we support our students, we love diversity, but it’s not true,” Su said. “I think that so many people need to know that that’s not true.”

Written by KIRO 7 TV reporter Andrew Scheinthal.