Joining other groups throughout the nation, San Mateo County students walked out of school Friday, protesting in solidarity against the increasingly violent immigration enforcement in and beyond Minneapolis.
What began as separated efforts from numerous campuses to join the nationwide action against ICE and President Donald Trump transformed into hundreds of students marching from their respective campuses in unity, in a major demonstration of civil engagement.
In San Mateo, students largely dressed in black and held protest signs, trekking from eight different campuses to gather in Central Park Friday afternoon. After everyone arrived, students and supporters stood along El Camino Real for heightened visibility, rallying cars to honk and cheer through their windows.
Students gathered in Central Park en masse from Aragon, Burlingame, Capuchino, Hillsdale, San Mateo high schools, The Nueva School, and even students from nearby Abbott and Borel middle schools.
For Brianna Hafiz, one of the lead organizers at Hillsdale High School, the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in recent weeks, undoubtedly served as a catalyst for collection action, but they are not the only reason.
“This has been coming for a while, it’s not the whole reason we’ve done this,” Hafiz said. “This is also about the families that were separated, the people sent to Alligator Alcatraz and went missing. The two deaths that were widely publicized are just two of many.”
Hafiz and fellow Hillsdale High School organizer Emma Sevilla said they were planning on coordinating a walkout just for their own campus, but after seeing similar efforts underway at San Mateo and Aragon high schools, campus leaders decided to join together.
“It would be so great if we showed this unified group effort to oppose ICE’s actions,” Hafiz said. “It’s surreal, I didn’t expect this much attention to be garnered from it.”
Once students left the park and made their presence known on El Camino Real, San Mateo High School sophomores and friends Shauny, Maya and Noel, stood on one corner holding their own signs.
For Shauny, the cause hits close to home; her uncle was recently deported — and Maya was opposed to mistreatment because of someone’s race. Noel joined to support her Latina friends and stand in solidarity.
While students risked being marked absent from their classes for walking out, districts allow for a one-day excused absence to attend a civic or political event if the school is given notification.
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Still, the intent to risk some level of punishment to show support is a worthy cause, Hafiz said.
“Families are experiencing fear every single day,” Hafiz said. “By walking out, we’re only experiencing a fraction of what they’re experiencing. It means a lot that we have a big community that is willing to experience that and have that empathy.”
School staff were welcome to participate in the walkout, but were asked to do so as private citizens, rather than employees. Other administrators, including school principals, joined protesters to ensure safety and be on scene in their professional capacity.
On scene in San Mateo included county staff, councilmembers and representatives from the San Mateo County Office of Education. Trustees from the San Mateo-Foster City School District joined parents of high schoolers to pass out water and fruit to students. Many said they were there both in solidarity with the protest and as officials to make sure the kids stayed safe.
In a thank you to district leaders, SM-FCSD Superintendent Diego Ochoa thanked staff who attended the protest as well as those who stayed behind and continued to teach their courses.
“Days like today showcase that identity, belonging, advocacy and democratic participation are all inextricably linked to public education,” Ochoa said in an email to staff.
The student walkouts correlated with a nationwide general strike protesting ICE for which a number of businesses throughout the Bay Area closed. Those participating in the strike didn’t go to work or school, and didn’t purchase anything.
Walkouts were also organized at El Camino High School and South San Francisco High School. Students walked out Friday morning in protest and gathered at the new South San Francisco Public Library. Many students from the Sequoia Union High School District gathered at County Center Friday afternoon as well.
To Sevilla, the protests serve as an affirmation of support for the immigrant community throughout the county, and an assurance that young students are paying attention.
“I hope it shows there are students that care a lot and that want to step up,” Sevilla said. “I hope they realize there’s a community that wants to help.”
(14) comments
Isn’t it ironic that a few pages over in the physical paper, or a click in the online version, there’s a Student News column by Ayana Ganjoo on the privilege of English class (although I’d add any three R class) and yet these students are opting to skip class to demonstrate on an issue, immigration (only the illegal kind because legal immigrants have nothing to fear) enforcement, that is occurring because Democrat leaders are putting the welfare of criminals and terrorists over the American people?
When parents see their kids skipping school to protest the U.S. Constitution, are they worried that social media posts/photos/videos will affect which colleges will deny admission because these kids don’t understand law and order and instead, would rather be on the wrong side of a common sense issue? AI is being used to screen students on GPAs, essays, etc. and increasingly, used to screen students based on social media posts. After viewing adverse impact social media posts, would colleges send admittance letters to these students?
And would it be more ironic (or karmic) that some of these student protesters are denied admission to their college of choice, or any college, because their “spot” has been given to someone who is in our country illegally? Every time parents/students read of a higher institution discriminating against American citizens, will they realize they’re the ones being discriminated against? And if they are admitted, will they be refused or received limited grants and scholarships because that pool of money is going to non-citizens and penalizing American citizens?
The bottom line is that actions have consequences. I can only hope that the actions of today by these students and their parents don’t result in adverse consequences to the rest of their academic futures or their career prospects. The Internet (and social media postings?) is forever.
This walk out is another demonstration of our poor educational system. The students do not seem to know the difference between legal and illegal immigrants. They also are not aware of what our President is doing, making our country safer for them to remove violent criminals that were holed up in sanctuary cities. And lastly, if they were so concerned why not demonstrate on their own time and not lose valuable class time?
Students protesting is one thing (my HS student stayed in class) but there were blatant violations of the CA Ed code and district policy regarding teachers engaging in political activities using school time or resources and sharing their personal political beliefs in class:
-Many teachers told their students they were taking the day off to protest (they could have taken personal time without telling the students why)
-One teacher cried in class while comparing the "brave" student protesters to civil rights pioneers
-Teachers used their school emails to organize other teachers in "support" of student protesters
-Poster making was done at school during school hours
-Suddenly the regular absence rules were changed. A new button was added to the online absence reporting form to indicate your student was taking the day of for political protest (until last week this was not an option- excused absences were only for illness, medical appointment or bereavement.) And students who left school for the protest were not required to get a pass from the office as they always had to do before, they could simply leave.
Of course nothing will be done to reprimand the teachers or administrators for these egregious violations. Counting the days until I'm done with the school system here!
- There is nothing in Ed Code prohibiting teachers from choosing to share the reason for their absences.
- There is nothing in Ed Code prohibiting teachers from showing emotion in class during an emotionally charged time.
- California Ed Code Section 7054 prohibits the use of school district email systems to urge the support or defeat of any ballot measure or candidate. Communicating to figure out how to handle any event significantly impacting student attendance seems like a good thing to do. I vividly recall student attendance plummeting on the day of the parade after the Giants won the 2010 World Series...I assume emails between teachers were exchanged for that as well, figuring out how to handle the learning disruption.
- As far as Hillsdale is concerned, many clubs hosted poster-making events during lunch periods - lunch periods that (by California Ed Code) are legally duty-free for teachers and are therefore not considered to be during school hours. I would guess the situation was similar at the other campuses.
- Regular absence rules were not changed. Pursuant to California Ed Code Section 48205, as amended by CA-SB 955, middle and high school students are entitled to one excused absence per school year to participate in a civic or political event, as long as parents or guardians give advanced notice. I would guess the button was added to the online portal to streamline the process in anticipation of lots of parent calls. Most schools have only one or two people staffing attendance offices, and given the turnout for the protest, they would have been overwhelmed with calls. Schools are responsible for maintaining accurate attendance records, and adding a button online makes it far less likely that any call or report would be missed.
You may be counting down the days until you're done with this school system, but I'm counting down the days until this socially-conscious, empathetic, inspired generation become the decisionmakers of our country. Massive thank you to the student organizers, SMPD and district representatives who kept everyone safe, and kudos to every student who participated in their first amendment right to free speech and assembly!
Look Sinead - this is silly, I remember taking every opportunity when in HS to skip a class, just for fun. To call this "kudos to every student who participated in their first amendment right to free speech and assembly" is absurd and stretches your credibility. These students are indoctrinated by the generally leftist faculty. Do you even remember a march in favor of conservative causes? Probably not until h#&& freezes over. You are so adapt at quoting regulations but have you ever wondered why these are ignored at many levels, including at our schools? Get a grip, as we used to say.
Dirk, when students walked out a few years ago to protest continuing school mask mandates (2022- we long knew the masks were performative and useless) they were threatened with loss of prom and graduation and treated differently by the principal and teachers after that. They didn't get excused absences, nor were they celebrated for exercising their 1A rights. Leftists are nothing if not hypocrites, that's for sure.
You're right, I haven't seen many movements in favor of conservative beliefs, but given that conservativism is about maintaining already established institutions, traditions, and customs, you don't really need to march for that. But hey, if you want to march for sticking to what we have going on right now, you are more than welcome to do that. That's part of the beauty of the first amendment...you can protest and march for whatever suits your fancy.
And Dirk, you're absolutely right that student protests tend not to be in favor of maintaining existing dynamics. America has a long history of student movements that have been pivotal in shaping how we've moved forward (Civil Rights movement, Vietnam War protests, Free Speech Movement, etc), and those movements have tended to fall on the right side of history.
SMUHSD has adopted Board policy 6144 which requires instruction on controversial topics be presented in a balanced manner and without promoting a particular viewpoint. Teachers are expected to refrain from advocating their personal opinion or viewpoint when leading classroom discussions on controversial issues. So yes, that would definitely apply to a teacher who stated that they planned to attend an anti-ICE protest, or the crier who tells kids who want an afternoon off that they are the next Martin Luther King, Jrs and Rosa Parks.
The email I saw (provided from a teacher I know) was not simply to figure out how to handle absences, it expressed a particular viewpoint and called for adult involvement in the student protests. I know it is hard to believe but there are people who think differently than you on issues including immigration and some of them are SMUHSD teachers!
The absence policy regarding protests may have previously existed but was never advertised until this week- years of calling kids out for appointments and illness and this was never listed as a reason for an excused absence. I'm sure that button wouldn't have appeared if some kids were planning a Trump rally. And what about getting a pass from the office- suddenly that isn't important? Kids who wanted to protest should have taken an unexcused absence and not gotten special treatment from the schools.
Bottom line is I realize you leftist teachers know exactly how to tiptoe around the rules and policies in order to try to indoctrinate kids into your ideology- violating the spirit if not the letter of the law. Like those teachers a few months ago who handed out flyers full of lies about Charlie Kirk to students JUST off campus and JUST before instruction time.
I miss the days when it was actually a badge of honor for a teacher when their students did not know where they stood politically. (My son has one amazing teacher who is still like this... a rare breed for sure.)
It actually isn't hard for me to believe that people think differently than I do - it would be nice if you afforded the same courtesy to the teachers and students you criticize.
SB 955 was passed into law in late 2022, so it makes sense that it wouldn't have been listed for years of calling kids out of school. As far as the button is concerned, its appearance was prompted by the sheer number of expected absences, not the ideology. If a Trump rally was anticipated to draw hundreds of student attendees, the button would be just as useful. That being said, I actually do agree with your suggestion of unexcused absences for all the protests. Change takes sacrifice, and one or two unexcused absences on an academic record would be small potatoes compared to what many others have sacrificed for their beliefs throughout history.
I'm surprised by your stance on the spirit vs letter of the law - wouldn't reprimanding based on spirit introduce an incredible amount of bias? If you want teachers to follow letter of the law on all the Ed Codes, shouldn't it be enforced by letter of the law as well? In which case, distributing flyers off campus and outside of instruction time shouldn't be any issue. Pick a side, Mich - either letter for everything, or spirit for everything.
Amen to everything you said, Sinead! Our bright, involved youth are our only hope for the future.
SMpool - our "bright, involved youth" are Tik-Tok-crazed kids. There is no organic movement here at all, it is a national disgrace that these kids are so misguided, and react to an intrusive, biased signal on their smart phones. That is why we should be very worried about our future. This is how the CCP and now Putin manage to contain their flock. That you would endorse this behavior tells us all about you.
We need more choice in schools. It isnt about what schools we send our kids, but where we spend our education dollar. Think GI Bill. Later you posted about conservatives not getting attention because they support established institutions. You cant get more established than public schools.
Awful what they're doing to this kids. The images suggest it's >90% young girls, too. Imagine what lies they tell them. Horrible and sad.
From some of these comments you'd think these left wing lunatic teachers are brainwashing our youth. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the constitution and civil liberties are being trampled by a bunch of federal masked goons. Not to mention, people being killed with no accountability and administration that can't open their mouths without lying. If what is happening in Minnesota happens in Sam Mateo County, I hope every student walks out and doesn't return to class until ss wannabes are run out of town.
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