The same rules that apply to missing school without parental permission apply here. Schools may punish students for being involved in a walk out if is disruptive to school activities. [1] Punishment can’t be based on the content of expression: your school shouldn’t impose a harsher penalty because you were engaging in a protest than if you were cutting class for any other reason.

[1] Tate v. Bd. of Educ. of the Jonesboro, Ark., Special Sch. Dist., 453 F.2d 975 (8th Cir. 1972)(upholding punishment of 29 Black students for violating a rule against “creating a disturbance in any assembly” after they walked out of a pep rally to protest the school band playing “Dixie”).