Video

Students turn out by the hundreds to protest the scheduling change in Collier schools. Watch »

Video

Raw video footage of the protest today at Lely HS. Watch »

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Four cell phone video clips taken during Palmetto Ridge High student protest. Watch »

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Gulf Coast High student Valentina Floegel submitted this 15-second cell-phone video shot in the school's courtyard during the student protest over proposed schedule changes. Watch »

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Gulf Coast High student Macy Ballin submitted this 28-second cell-phone video shot in the school's courtyard during the student protest over proposed schedule changes. Watch »

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Gulf Coast High sophomore Benjamin MacDonough shot this 24-second cell-phone video in the school's courtyard during the student protest over proposed schedule changes around 9 a.m. today. Video was shot with a Motorola Q cell phone. Watch »

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Don’t even think about it.

As members of the media attempted to get onto four Collier County high school campuses this week, officials at the four schools made the message clear:

Unless invited, you’re not welcome.

Members of the media were told they weren’t allowed on Gulf Coast, Lely, Palmetto Ridge and Naples high school campuses Wednesday and Thursday. The decision came as hundreds of students at the four schools walked out of class over two days in protest of the district’s plan to change the high school schedule.

Members of the media also were ordered off Gulf Coast High School’s campus on Wednesday by a Collier County Sheriff's Office deputy.

Collier Sheriff Don Hunter said school principals have the right to close their schools to the media if they believe there is a need for greater security.

School officials were concerned that “the presence of media would inspire the kids to remain outside the classroom and try to get face-time,” Hunter said.

Collier County Superintendent Dennis Thompson said Thursday that no one is allowed on campus during school hours, regardless of what is happening, unless the school’s principal says otherwise.

“When the student steps onto campus, we’re obligated for their safety,” Thompson said. “No one enters, not without the permission of the principal.”

The same goes for Lee County schools, Lee schools spokesman Joe Donzelli said.

In Lee County, visitors to campus must first get principal approval before they step foot onto a campus.

“You’ve got to get clearance,” Donzelli said.

Restricting access to campus, whether it be parents or local media, is meant to limit the disruptions to the school day, Thompson said.

But keeping outsiders out didn’t stop classes at Lely, Naples and Palmetto Ridge high schools from being disrupted Thursday morning.

Lely High School students spent their nutrition break protesting, waving signs that read: “Say No to Change” and “No Change.”

But not all of the students were happy with their peers’ decision.

“I spent seven hours (Wednesday night) in meetings with School Board members. This is not going to solve anything,” said 16-year-old Katy Melchiorre. “We want the School Board to defer the schedule change for another year.”

Once the bell rang to signal the end of the break, students were asked to go back to class by teachers and administrators.

Lely High Principal Ken Fairbanks said students who returned to the classrooms wouldn’t be penalized.

Not everyone went peacefully though, according to Joe Landon, a district spokesman.

Landon said all but 200 Lely students initially went back to class. That number shrunk to about 50, after teachers and administrators spoke to the students about the consequences. Those final 50 students eventually went to class, Landon said, but not before someone pulled the fire alarm.

Two Lely students were charged with pulling a fire alarm, said Michelle Batten, a Collier County sheriff’s spokeswoman. Pulling a fire alarm can result in a misdemeanor charge.

Lely students weren’t the only ones arrested Thursday: four Palmetto Ridge students were charged with disrupting a school function, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Karie Partington. Disrupting a school function can also result in a misdemeanor charge.

The students were arrested at the request of Palmetto Ridge Principal Roy Terry, after the students were asked twice to return to the building after the protest. When students didn’t comply, Partington said, deputies arrested them.

That’s not what school officials told the district, though.

Landon said Terry told district officials that “four students got mouthy and kicked trash cans” and that’s why they were arrested.

Though Collier sheriff’s youth relations deputies heard rumblings of a possible protest at Gulf Coast High School before Wednesday morning’s sit-in, Hunter said he wasn’t aware of it until the afternoon.

It is the responsibility of the youth relations deputies, who work at Collier high schools, to provide security and maintain order during mass demonstrations, Hunter said.

He believes the deputies did just that during this week’s protests.

“My understanding is they handled it just right,” Hunter said.

There was additional security at Thursday night’s board meeting, Landon said.

Three deputies were on hand, compared to the one deputy who normally attends the meeting.

Landon said the additional security was needed “because of the size of the expected crowd, and the importance of keeping an orderly atmosphere for a business meeting.”

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Staff writers Katherine Lewis and Ryan Mills contributed to this report.