Yeah, if you’re past the complusory school age then the worst the district can due is drop you from the attendance rolls and not let you return to class. When I was in HS that took about 20 unexcused absences to happen.
Ummmmm…news flash. About half of Chicago students have been on strike for decades. Perhaps not officially, but if you mean not going to class, doing homework, or studying for test, then yes. The chaotic atmosphere you say you aren’t advocating is a pretty accurate description of school when its in session. You just left out the guns and the drugs. Why do you think the graduation rates are so abysmal?
Maybe “safety” is the wrong word, but that’s how some parents would frame it. It’s a liability issue. Parents got their kids to school, and they expect to school to keep them there until the normal end of the school day. They know that school ends at 3pm and can make whatever arrangements they deem appropriate.
Presumably, for plenty of responsible kids, that just means “text me if you’re not going to be home by dinner so I know where you are”. But if the uptight ones want to shepherd their kids to and from school, that’s their right as parents.
If students do strike, where does the school district go to find scabs?