Albuquerque Charter School Students Face Discipline for Protesting ICE Activity
In a display of youthful activism, students at an Albuquerque charter school took a stand against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, but their courageous act of civil disobedience came with a price. Despite warnings from school administrators about potential safety risks, middle and high school students at Explore Academy in northeast Albuquerque planned a protest and promoted it via social media.
The school's administrators eventually learned of the students' plans to leave class around 1:20 p.m. on Thursday and issued warnings to parents about potential consequences for early campus departures. Jacob Kolander, the school's head administrator, explained, "If they’re choosing to leave school during the school day, they’ve opted to be unsupervised. And parents were notified that’s why there would be disciplinary measures."
Consequences for the students included being "written up" for leaving class and facing unexcused absences, which could impact those with attendance issues. However, some students remained undeterred. Chloe Cordova, a student at the charter school, stated, "They told us the most they could do is write us up for ditching class. And most people just took the risk, because it’s just a write-up."
The legality of disciplining students for peaceful protests is a nuanced topic. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), schools can discipline students for missing class, but not for the political nature or message of their actions. The ACLU's statement clarifies, "Because the law in most places requires students to go to school, schools can discipline you for missing class. But what they can’t do is discipline you more harshly because of the political nature of or the message behind your action."
Some students who spoke to KOB 4 on Thursday felt that the potential disciplinary action was worth it to spread their message. Elias Willey expressed, "I feel like if I don’t advocate, I’ll just be that guy that says, ‘Yeah, go do something!’ And then I just sit down and continue to do nothing."
However, school leaders emphasized their concerns were not about the protest's spirit but the students' safety. They argued that protesting on campus, surrounded by school personnel, would have been safer than walking more than half a mile to a nearby park. Kolander stated, "We really love the fact that our kids are educated enough and passionate enough about issues to want to make their voices heard. But ultimately, our responsibility is to make sure they are safe and that they are protected. And the only way we can do that is when they are here at our school, on our school grounds."
This incident raises important questions about the balance between student activism and school discipline, and it invites discussion on the boundaries of student rights and the responsibilities of educational institutions.
