Nationwide, protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intensified following the shooting deaths of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti Jan. 24, and Renee Macklin Good, Jan. 7. Both were killed by ICE agents.
Among those participating in protests against ICE are some of the nation’s high school students.
Locally, La Habra, Tesoro, Northwood, Portola, Sonora, and Irvine high schools took part in student-led walkouts Jan. 30, and walkouts for Feb. 6 have been announced on social media for other Orange County schools, including Fullerton High School, Oxford Academy, Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA), and BOHS.
These marches, whether organized by student leadership (like Fullerton’s) or spontaneous (like Northwood’s), are protected by the First Amendment and California Education Code, but consequences for absences not reported a day in advance vary from school to school.
What rights do students have in student-led protests?
The First Amendment guarantees the right to freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly, protections that extend to students participating in walkouts.
Additionally, per California’s Education Code Section 48907, students are free to express any opinion as long as it does not interfere with the educational process (for instance, leaving campus during class, or engaging in slanderous speech). Students may use bulletin boards, distribute printed materials or petitions, wear “buttons, badges, and other insignia,” and express themselves in “official publications.”
Brea Olinda Unified School District (BOUSD) acknowledged these protections in an email sent to faculty and to students’ families Feb. 3, stating that while student-led walkouts are “not organized or sponsored by Brea Olinda Unified School District or [the] schools,” they recognize that “students have the right to peaceful expression under state and federal law.”
Can a student get in trouble for participating in a walkout?
Schools are not permitted to discipline students for engaging in political speech as long as that engagement does not “present danger of the commission of unlawful acts on school premises or the violation of lawful school regulations, or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school”; however, students are still expected to follow their school’s attendance and campus safety policies.
In an email sent to the BOHS student body Feb. 4, BOHS principal Joey Davis said, “Students who participate appropriately and follow school guidelines will not face discipline solely for peaceful assembly.”
At BOHS, if a student’s parent or guardian calls the attendance office a day prior to the protest, the absence will be excused using the code “O” for “other,” following the guidelines of Senate Bill 955 that state, “a middle school or high school pupil who is absent from school to engage in a civic or political event to be excused for only one school day-long absence per school year.”
Davis notified teachers that if a student has an “O” as reason for absence, the student must be able to make up work missed that day.
If the attendance office is not notified of a student’s participation in a walkout, the unexcused absence (“U”) will count towards truancy. Truancy interventions at BOHS occur after three or more unexcused absences.
While student-led walkouts are considered an act of free speech, schools may limit activities or impose disciplinary action if the act is deemed disruptive to learning. However, school administrators are prohibited from disciplining students more harshly for participating in a walkout.
Student gatherings, according to BOUSD, “must be peaceful, respectful, and non-disruptive” and “speech or actions that are obscene, threatening, incite violence, promote property damage, or cause substantial disruption are not protected and will be addressed according to school rules.”
How will BOHS ensure student safety during a walkout?
BOUSD’s and BOHS’s messages to the community on Feb. 3 were in response to a Jan. 30 Instagram post from account, @walkout_meltice that proposed a student walkout across BOUSD schools on Feb. 6. “We will all walk out of our classrooms with our flags, signs, and voices to protest against what’s wrong and stand for what’s right,” the post read. (As of Feb. 5, the post has 181 likes and been shared 334 times.)
On Feb. 4, the account posted details: the walkout — a “PEACEFUL protest where anyone is welcome,” according to a Feb. 5 Instagram post — will begin at 8:30 a.m, as the first period bell rings, commencing with a 2.6 mile walk to the Brea Civic Center.
Davis’s primary concern is student and staff safety.
“Ultimately, our number one goal is always student safety,” Davis said in an interview with the Wildcat. “Whether it’s 50 students or 150 or 1000, we would call the Brea Police Department and let them know what’s going on to monitor students once they’re on public property.”
According to assistant principal Bryson Burns, “BOUSD and BOHS will not have personnel stationed along the proposed route,” but will instead “monitor a safe demonstration on campus” at the flag pole in front of the main gate.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that BOHS personnel will monitor the protest along the route. According to Melissa Serrato, BOUSD Public and Media Relations Specialist, “Brea PD is the only agency expected to monitor the route beyond campus.” The Wildcat regrets the error.
