The Speaker of the legislative assembly says the point of his letter to student protesters is being missed.

David Laxton noted in an interview this morning that "any protest, silent or otherwise” isn't allowed in the legislative assembly itself.

"Protests outside the legislature are perfectly all right and welcome, actually,” Laxton said.

The Speaker noted that the gallery is only open to the public "at the pleasure of the members.”

"The members are not obligated to conduct their business in an open forum, but they do. They choose to do so,” he said.

"It's the role of the Speaker to ensure that the order and decorum of the legislative assembly, referred to as the house often, is adhered to.”

The F.H. Collins Secondary School students, ranging from Grades 8 to 10, were protesting the loss of their school gym during the construction of the replacement school.

Since then, the government has agreed to further investigate the possibility of building a temporary gym structure.

The students met with both the ministers of Education and Public Works in the foyer of the government's main administrative building before entering the public gallery on Dec. 4.

Laxton pointed out that the Education Minister Scott Kent then introduced the students and explained why they were in the public gallery.

"These students, I applaud them for their desire to be heard and to speak, but they spoke to the two ministers responsible for the rebuilding of the school,” Laxton said.

"The minister introduced them, made everybody in the legislature aware of their presence. That's pretty good,” he added.

"It was recognized, everybody knew why they were there, the statement was made. To stomp up and down the stairs and to stand up and draw attention to themselves serves no purpose and is disruptive to the proceedings.”

Laxton wrote his letter to students two days after the protest.

He briefly outlined his role as Speaker of the house before noting his time in the Canadian military.

"I have seen what happens when the democratic process, rights, and privileges are compromised and eroded,” he wrote.

"I also remember, perhaps because I have had the honour and very sincere privilege to talk with World War Two and Korean War survivors, what the cost of respecting, enshrining, preserving, and defending the Canadian morals, values, institutions, and democratic practices has cost all of us.

"To disrespect the institutions, democratic processes and beliefs protected by these individuals demonstrates your lack of understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of the freedoms you currently enjoy that Canadian soldiers have fought and died to protect,” he continued.

Before concluding the letter, the Speaker said he hoped the students would attend the legislature again "without disruption.”

He also invited them to set up an appointment to discuss any concerns they may have at his office.

Nineteen students signed a letter in response to the Speaker's letter.

This was not the first letter the Speaker has sent to protesters who have disrupted the legislative proceedings.

A letter was also sent to members of the Youth Peel Alliance following a protest during the past spring's legislative assembly session during which they held a banner urging the protection of the Peel in the public gallery.

Laxton said he did not receive a response to that letter.

He hasn't sent a letter to other Peel protesters, he said, because he has never been provided contact information for any of them.

Attempts to reach two of the students involved in the gymnasium protest before deadline early this afternoon were not successful.

Following their Dec. 4 protest, Grade 10 student Tristan Sparks said: "We wanted to be here today just to prove a point that we're here and we don't agree with what they're doing for us.

"They say they've listened to us, but there have been no changes yet since the (Nov. 22) open house, so we just wanted to make our voices heard.”

Pascale Halliday, a Grade 8 student, added, "The gym is really important to us; if you go into our school anytime at lunch, you will see hundreds of kids playing in our gym, and participating, making new friends, and enjoying their high school.”

She also pointed out that their concerns aren't any less important because they aren't old enough to vote.

The demolition of the current gym is scheduled to begin in March 2013.

The new school is currently budgeted at $55 million.