Sewickley Academy Students Continue To Call For Change In Leadership And School Policies

EDGEWOOD, Pa. (KDKA) -- Frustrations are reaching a tipping point at Sewickley Academy.

Students said they're still not being heard, as administrators now say they're willing to work out the issues but not in the public eye.

According to students, they don't feel safe at school.

"I'm going to fight like hell until they change, and I will make sure that happens before the end of the year," senior Georgia Cox said.

After one administrator called the police on them, some students told KDKA-TV that they feel leaders are not worried about their concerns. Administrators said they want to meet privately with students to resolve the problems.

"We're just asking to meet with you. We're asking for our demands to be met. We're asking for the truth," senior Anthony Wiles said.

It's been almost a week since police were called on students and parents who were trying to take a petition calling for change to school leaders.

Now students with C.A.R.E.S. -- the Collective Action for Representative Education at Sewickley -- told KDKA that they feel the situation has only gotten worse.

"If students of color don't feel safe in a predominantly white institution and we are asked to leave, does that mean these institutions are only built for white students?" senior Omar Malik said.

Head of School Ashley Birtwell told KDKA that she reached out to the students, asking to meet Wednesday or Thursday to address their concerns.

"We're certainly spending a lot of time with the students trying to understand their needs, their feelings, listening. We want them to feel heard," Birtwell said.

Students told KDKA that they did not receive an email from Birtwell.

The students have now issued a new list of demands, including a national search for a Department of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice director, changes to the student handbook and a public apology from Birtwell.

"I'm hopeful that we can come together so that we don't continue to have these ongoing distractions from what we're here to do," Birtwell said.

School leaders said a nationwide search for the director position is ongoing, and they are open to looking at the school handbook. Students said they want change now.

"We are broken. We cry every day. Our spines shiver as we walk down the hallways. You don't do anything about it," freshman Nora Faraci said.

Dr. Birtwell said she wants to build back the students' trust.

Meanwhile, the students continue to stress that they want to make the school a better place and this is not intended to disparage the school.