I'm so excited since I love Kim Sejeong so much! She has such a wonderful personality and I know she will give it her all to do her best as her first lead project! She deserves the best!

Please remember that Eunji and Hyeri did well with their respective Reply series' characters, and let's hope for the best from both Sejung and Rowoon.

Mori, please decline so I don't have any reason to watch this drama ?? ❤

I believe the male counterpart has also been decided or close to closing the casting choice?

Did she decline because of the controversy?

I hope this goes well for her! I've seen her on variety shows and she's so nice and friendly :) wishing her success!

Oh my god, this is wonderful news! Kim Sejeong is a precious gem and deserves all the breaks she can get. She's debuted several times in the course of two years, and I hope this year's debut as an actress will boost her fame and revolutionize her career. Sejeong is ❤!

Oooh I like the descriptions of the plot and character so far! And I've really enjoyed Sejeong in variety, which was really unexpected as I tend to find female celebs mostly bland, but she's got a lot of screen presence and is not afraid to show a different kind of personality than the regular images. I hope that charisma will transfer well to acting!

I'm glad Kim Yoo Jung turned this down. It was a smart move on her part. It wouldn't have been ideal to cast an actor who is more famous than all the other cast. So we can enjoy the ensemble cast for what they bring to the table. I believe both male and female leads have been cast. Now if they can only perform as well as their counterparts in Solomon's Perjury, I'm sold.

I wish they'd cast more rookie actors rather than rookie idols. It's really unfair that a rookie actor has to do so much more to prove themselves worthy of a lead role than a rookie idol would. It would be nice if production crews spent more time on making sure their drama was actually good, so they don't have to rely on people watching it solely to see their favorite idol. I'll still watch this to see if it's any good (and hopefully more in line with School 2013), but my interest has waned considerably.

Sejung and Joy share a lot in common. They are both known in real-life for their charming and bright personalities and smiles. Also for being willing to drop their image and show their weird crazy dorky selves (I love how they're both so out-there. Joy is known for being Satan and dorky and Sejung for being just like an ahjussi/oppa. lol.). So here's to hoping it'll work out this time too, and she too will be able to transfer some of her charms into her role.

I'm glad to see her get the lead -- I hope she does well. I'd also, if I'm wishing, to see her fellow IOI cast member Kim Sohye get cast as well!

To be honest, I'm glad that Kim Yoo Jung declined. I would love to see her in a School drama, but it would just fuel the fan war.

I like the sound of it. I hope they don't make it cheesy, but I trust the team.

The plot sounds really good. I enjoyed School 2013 immensely. And it sounds from everyone's comments above that the actress comes across as sweet and personable on variety (I know nothing of Gugudan). So can we hope that she brings an earnestness to her role and makes this a worthy entry into the School franchise?

Surprisingly the comments here are a lot more positive than the last idol casting news i've read aka TLAHL.

I do genuinely wonder why. Is it because she is not a big 3 idol so people are not as highly skeptical with company using their power again? (this is a genuine question, im just curious)

Anyhow, school is all about producing up and coming stars so i hope this is good and please i dont want messy romance focus school like 2015. i might drop it f that happens again lol

Ahww im a little bit disappointed that KYJ didn't accept it.
But KSJ fighting!!! Love the school series. So i will trust the judgement of the crew

After reading the drama plot, i'm so glad that KYJ declined.. making romance the centre of a school life story put me off. The romance overshadowed the schools issues in school 2015, and I hated it.. i would love to see more of school 2013 kind of plot

SUCH HAPPY NEWS!!! I've been following her since Produce 101, and absolutely love her friendly, hard-working, outgoing personality - I've been wanting to see more of her, and this sounds like the perfect vehicle to break her into acting. I hope she shines. ^_^

I'm a big fan of Sejeong. That girl is a bundle pf joy. She has so much natural onscreen charisma. I think she'll do well in this.

Kim Se-jeong has an aura about her that will make her endearing and lovable as a female lead, but now that SF9 Rowoon is cast as the male lead my biggest fear is that these puppies will fall in love :( Okay maybe that might be a good thing. BUT MAYBE NOT

Awwww!! I love Kim Se Jeong!! She's definitely on her way up to be a very well-rounded entertainer, not just singer/MC, but she can add "actress" now too =)

Since Yoo-jung is now out, I'm going to have to pass. I don't think this series will focus on bullying since the synopsis screams light-hearted youth romance, but the possibility that it will be there is triggering to me. I rarely watch high school dramas because of this.

Best of luck to Kim Sejeong, Rowoon, and the rest of the cast.

P.S. Isn't Mori too old to be playing a student? And I heard Han Joo-wan is in talks to be here as their teacher, but he just got cast in a movie with Im Soo-jung.

Rather than Sejung, I'm really curious about Rowoon's acting skills. He's a total sweetheart, and super talented as an idol. I enjoy him on lipstick prince. But as an actor, I have no clue. I can't imagine him taking on any role but one of a sweet guy with his image. School could be a good opportunity for him to shed off that very image and broaden it.

The reason why I didn't want Kim Yoo Jung to take this role is to give rookie actresses a chance -- keyword being "actresses." Isn't two rookie idol actors a bit much? Not to mention, there's an actual actor in RoWoon's group, or is ChanHee too young for SeJeong?

Nice. To me, the most important part is the plot and script so if that delivers, I'm in.

I LOVE Kim Sejeong so so much, as do many other beanies in this thread! She's an absolute sweetheart with so much talent and potential. SF9's Rowoon is one of my favs too, and we've been given snippets of his acting potential in some of SF9's MVs, as well as their mini drama Click Your Heart. It makes me soo happy and proud to see young idols who act well (Eunji, Hyeri, SungJoy, etc) and I can't wait for School 2017!

I am so glad Yoojung made a wise decision and rejected this role. I am positive it was her decision, and not her company, because she wants to focus on school at the moment (role model already). But really, I am thankful because at least those potential fanwars are extinguished (for now). Anyways, someone once said that if you are a Kim Yoo Jung fan, you have to be patient. I'll be patiently waiting for her next drama~

i hope she does well.

was actually hoping they'll choose kim hyun soo (solomon's perjury) or jung da bin (she was pretty). i think both girls are very good actresses.