Hundreds of Forest Lake High School students walked out of class Friday, worried about the future of student clubs there.

“They need that community because they came here, and don’t feel like they have no one,” says Nathalie Ayissa, a Forest Lake senior. “To be able to have these clubs is to show them that they have people like them here and they can have someone they can talk to.”

The clubs are called ‘limited option forums.’ They are student-led and not connected to the school curriculum or athletic groups.

The students say they’re concerned these clubs might be eliminated under a proposal by the Forest Lake Area School Board.

Among them: ‘Best Buddies,’ which fosters relationships between students with or without disabilities, the Open Minds club, and the Hmong club.

“I feel like it’s going to kind of make people more distant from the staff,” explains Tristen Goodwin, a freshman at the school. “It’s better for people to be in these clubs, so they can know their culture and who they are.”

School Board Chairman Curt Rebelein says groups like the student council, Future Farmers of America, and Environmental Club won’t be affected.

But he says these limited option forums may need to go through an annual application process and would need a non-paid staffer to act as a supervisor.

“So, should they have interest to continue, they would apply, but ‘apply’ is a loose word, because we don’t have the ability to tell them no,” Rebelein explains. “If we allow groups to organize, they will.”

But why the change?

Rebelein says the board wants to align Forest Lake’s policies with Minnesota School Board recommendations and to operate “within the confines of state and federal law.”

“Under the confines of the policy that will be proposed as early as next week, should that pass exactly as written, no group will be eliminated across the entire school,” he notes. “We provide the location and the supervision to allow them to organize and operate.”

Some parents have also raised concerns about the dress code — whether the rules would be changed to allow swastikas, KKK logos, or Confederate flags on clothing.

Rebelein says the current policy was narrow and addressed the wearing of those symbols. He adds that a proposed plan would change policy language to allow the board to have a broader interpretation of what is appropriate.

But Rebelein says hate symbols, including swastikas, KKK logos, or Confederate flag decorations, would still be banned.

“It’s certainly not something that we promote,” he declares. “Any time any student is doing anything that promotes hate or makes others feel unwelcome, that is not something as a school board or a district, we are going to stand behind.”

The changes to student clubs’ status are not a done deal.

The school board is expected to discuss these measures during upcoming board meetings, and there could be votes sometime in June.

Forest Lake students say they hope their clubs will be able to continue.

“My biggest concern is that, like the long-term effects, if they get rid of all the clubs, how are students going to gather and meet new people?” asks Wrenn Fagerland, a senior. “Taking that away from us is just not right. It’s going to have a detrimental effect on students who go to Forest Lake.”