High School Student Arrested After Defying Orders, Coming To Class On Remote Learning Day

A student in New York has been arrested after arriving at school for in-person learning, in violation of the school’s COVID-19 regulations, after the school previously suspended him for the same reason.

The suspension: Maverick Stow, a 17-year-old senior at William Floyd High School in Long Island, was suspended Tuesday after attending in-person classes when he was supposed to follow them virtually from home.

After one of the teachers noticed he was not on the list of students for in-person teaching, he was told to go to the principal’s office where they told him to leave the school’s premises, to which he responded, “‘Well, no, I think I need to go class. This is during class time.'”

Stow was allowed to attend all classes that day, but at the end of the day, officials told him he was suspended for five days.

“Couldn’t they just say “wrong day, go on home and come back tomorrow.”?”

They could, but he is being a dick.

Statement from the school district.

Statement Regarding Maverick Stow

9/10/20 at 10:30 am

Today, Maverick Stow, as reported by the media, was arrested for criminal trespassing for unlawfully entering school grounds. As a district, our primary focus aside from providing a high-quality education, is to provide a safe learning environment for students and staff. Any attempt by a student who has been suspended or any other unauthorized person trying to enter school grounds is taken extremely seriously and will be met with the most severe consequences. School safety is a top priority especially in this day and age.

Mr. Stow continues to display irresponsible and selfish behavior with today’s latest publicity stunt. He arrived wearing a neon green shirt – for high visibility – with a contingent of media just outside the fence line trying to capture him getting arrested as he entered the building. He entered the building and was immediately arrested by the Suffolk County Police Department without incident and transported to the police station. As a result, if Mr. Stow continues to try to access school grounds each day that we are open, we will close the high school – and its approximately 3,000 students – to all in-person learning and it will be all virtual for the foreseeable future.

We are still in the midst of a pandemic and will abide by the regulations set in place by our government and health officials designed to keep our students and staff safe. As we have said, Mr. Stow’s rights as a student do not surpass the rights of any of our other 8,799 students; they should not have to come to school to witness this circus atmosphere each day. Most of our in-person classes at the high school are at maximum capacity according to the square footage of each classroom. It is just not possible to have all of our students back under the current social distancing regulations. We will not condone or allow students to flagrantly break the law in our schools.

Please note the below district statement regarding Maverick Stow, the William Floyd High School senior who protested the hybrid learning option by attending school during his non-scheduled in-person instructional days. The William Floyd School District takes student privacy seriously, however, considering that the student and his family already disclosed the information in public forums, we felt compelled to share the below.

9/9/20 at 12:08 pm
Our district agrees with Maverick’s position that school should be held in person five days per week. However, we must follow the social distancing requirements set forth by the state; and, when it is deemed safe to do so by our government and health officials, we will gladly welcome all of our 8,800 students back. It is important for Maverick and his family to understand that we do not set state policy, enact laws or write executive orders, but we do abide by them. We cannot have students showing up to school on their non-scheduled in-person days and when requested to leave displaying insubordinate behavior to multiple school officials and refusing to follow their instructions. His rights as a student do not surpass the rights of the other 8,799 students we have the privilege of educating. If his goal is to get school open five days per week, he is encouraged to take his advocacy to his state elected officials.

Additionally, Maverick showed up to school again this morning despite his suspension and continued to display insubordinate behavior – even at one point squaring up to a district official and stating that the district would have to “forcibly remove” him from school grounds. As a district we must work to ensure a safe and disruption-free environment for students who are following the rules and showing up to learn. We take school safety seriously and since he has escalated this situation, the police are now involved. When a student is suspended off of school grounds for any reason, we cannot and will not tolerate students trying to gain access to our grounds or buildings. We work extremely hard to ensure the safety of our students and staff.

Additionally, this pandemic has illuminated the inequities in school districts based on their zip codes. We have a 65% free and reduced meal rate and more than 300 students who are classified as homeless. We are unable to provide all of our students with the technology they need for remote learning at this time, and when we can, some do not even have internet access. With additional mandates being handed down regularly along with a reduction in state aid (and with more possible), it has become the perfect storm.

9/8/20 at 2:50 pm (statement released to the media)

We are following the social distancing mandates set forth by New York State. In order to adhere to these guidelines, it is imperative that students attend school during their scheduled in-person days only. While we would love nothing more than to have all 8,800 students back in-person five days per week, it is not possible at this time due to the pandemic. Students who refuse to adhere to their scheduled in-person days and/or flagrantly disregard directives to leave school grounds and cause a disruptive environment for other students, will face disciplinary actions.

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