Syracuse, N.Y. — The first day of in-person school started a little late for a couple hundred Fulton students on Thursday morning.

When the 7:45 a.m. bell rang to signify the start of the day, that’s roughly how many students walked out of the high school building and gathered on the football field.

The movement, which included social distancing and mask-wearing, was a peaceful protest against the Fulton school board’s decision on Tuesday to cancel fall sports because of coronavirus concerns. According to senior Alexa Patterson, who helped organize the protest, students were primarily upset because they felt they lacked a voice in the decision.

“It’s very upsetting to the soccer program that we’ve looked forward to our senior years all of our lives. It’s just getting taken away without a students’ say,” said senior soccer player Ethan Caruana. “Clearly, our students’ voices need to be heard more than what they are.”

The students were joined on the field by a handful of parents and teachers. Other parents watched the gathering from a nearby parking lot.

“They’ve been cooped up since March. They need that outlet. They need something,” said onlooker Aimee May, who has two children who normally would play fall sports for Fulton. “It’s been very frustrating for, not just parents, I think we forget that our kids have emotions and feelings as well. Their whole world has been turned upside down. And some sort of normalcy is what they need, and they need that outlet just for their mental health.”

The walkout ended after about an hour, when those students whose day it was to attend school in person walked back into the building. Later Thursday morning district superintendent Brian Pulvino met with a handful of students to review the issue.

“I heard a lot of good points from the kids, a lot of food for thought,” Pulvino said.

Pulvino said the decision to postpone, however, still stands. He said the district will continue to work with the community to review its options as the year progresses, but that may not be enough to patch up the emotions of the athletes.

“I know that these kids have been working their whole entire lives for this moment. And for it to just canceled like, even though we have permission (from New York State) to play, I think it’s kind of unreasonable,” said football player Sam May, a student rep to the school board.

May added that sports are important for athletes’ lives away from the field as well.

“Another reason why we decided to do this (protest) is because a lot of the kids that do play sports, they don’t really have a safe place to go home to. So sports after school is like an outlet for them and they’re able to relieve a lot of stress,” he said.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association recently moved football (along with other activities with a high risk of coronavirus spread such as volleyball and chearleading) from fall to to March 1. But the NYSPHSAA and Section III gave the OK for lower risk sport such as golf, tennis, swimming, cross country, soccer and field hockey to start practice on Monday.

Many districts across the state and in Section III are, indeed, going ahead with fall sports. But others, such as Fulton, weighed that the costs of meeting return to play guidelines and were too much of a counterbalance to open up athletics.

“I’m truly thankful that Fulton is concerned with our kids’ safety,” said Jen Mainville, whose daughter, Abby, runs cross country at the school. “What leaves a bad taste in my mouth when watching the (school board) meeting was that everyone’s opinion was very jaded. I just felt like they already had their minds made up. I don’t think that they were fully aware of the safety precautions that were taking place if sports were permitted to happen.”

Pulvino said his board digested the available information, a task that was especially challenging since many of the sports rules evolved so late.

“It’s not like there was a lot of time in here (to make a decision),” he said. “We’re trying to re-open schools, and the governor has made it very clear that we’ve got to re-open safely. We made our decision. You always wish you had more time.”

Nicole Doty, who has two sons that play soccer at Fulton, said an on-line petition asking for a reversal of the decision was started last night. Doty said by 7 a.m. it had 900 signatures.

“School’s already different. Everything’s been turned upside down for the last six months. I think they (students) were looking for some normalcy and some way to get back in,” Doty said. “And they’ve been playing. They go with their friends anyways. So this way, it would be organized and safer than kids that kids that are just getting together to play pickup games.”

Senior soccer player Olivia Bush said she didn’t know if the pressure campaign to revive fall sports will have any impact, but it’s the only voice the athletes and community feel they have now.

“I’ve been playing soccer since I was 4, so losing this season for me would be really upsetting,” she said. “I really hope it does change because these are kids’ sports and kids look forward to this. A lot of kids don’t have an outlet at home, especially in the city. It really helps them academically and they look forward to it at the end of the day. I really hope the school sees that and understands that and can turn things around for the better here.”

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Lindsay Kramer is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? He can be reached via email at LKramer@Syracuse.com.