Students walk out of local high schools protesting ICE
School administrators set behavioral guidelines for protests, schools say.
Students at Williamsburg-James City County’s high schools walked out of class for a 15-minute protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement today.
Williamsburg Watch observed students walk out of Warhill and Lafayette high schools for the protests, which began at 1 p.m.
Thousands of students have been protesting ICE deportations at schools in Richmond and Northern Virginia this month.
“Student groups at each of the three high schools approached their administrators regarding a walkout,” a school spokesperson told us. “ WJCC does not sanction or endorse the walkouts. Our role is to ensure safety of participants and non-participants.”
Williamsburg Watch was not allowed on the high school campuses, which had been reinforced with some additional police presence in addition to normal security. So we apologize for the poor pictures, due to distance.
But we saw what appeared to be dozens of students leaving both Warhill and Lafayette High Schools, some bearing signs, and protesting outside.
We took this video through a fence outside school grounds
Parents were told in an email from the schools Monday night that the events would be taking place.
The message said schools “recognize our students’ rights to peacefully assemble and express their opinions.” It said the students leading the protests shared their plans with school administrators, who set guidelines for behavior.
“Students who participate in the walkout within the parameters as outlined will be able to make up work missed during the event. However, students who leave campus or who otherwise disrupt the school day will be subject to disciplinary action as detailed in our Code of Conduct,” parents were told.
We will have a full story in our Wednesday edition.