Highland students who participated in the February 6 walkout faced a week of mixed messaging from the Salt Lake School District (SLCSD), and many are left confused and frustrated, as they should.
On January 30, thousands of individuals, including Highland students, from around the country participated in a nationwide anti-ICE protest. People participated in various ways including missing classes, avoiding spending money, and attending in-person protests.
Just one week later, on February 6, 14 schools from across the state of Utah participated in an anti-ICE walkout. An estimated 300 students participated at Highland by missing classes from 11:20-1:20 pm.
Prior to the walkout, Yandry Chatwin, Executive Director of Communications and Community Relations for SLCSD, sent out a message from Highland principal Jeremy Chatterton.
The message addressed the walkout by stating that it was not a school-sponsored event and would not be supervised by school staff.
“While we continue to prioritize safety on campus, we cannot prevent students from choosing to leave school,” Chatterton said. “Students who walk out will be marked absent and will be expected to make up any missed work.”
This message was neutral and did not seem to get much of a reaction from students. And it did not discourage students from participating, nor did it endorse the activity.
Later in an interview, Chatterton shared his thoughts on walkouts.
“I think it’s great that our students are exercising their First Amendment rights if it’s something that they feel passionate about,” Chatterton said. “We want to support that, and we want to support all of our students in expanding what they find important to them, in getting involved civically, and in getting involved in an appropriate way in terms of what’s happening in the community around them.”
The evening of February 6, a new message from the district was shared via email, Parent/StudentSquare, and Instagram. The message communicated concern for student attendance and safety suggesting that students speak out about issues in different ways than they have been.
“While an occasional absence may not seem significant, every missed class period is a missed opportunity for learning,” SLCSD said. “[…] We strongly encourage all students to attend school every day for the full school day.”
This message got a much different response than the first.
The Instagram post got quite a bit of attention from mainly students but community members and parents as well. The post received more than 300 comments, many of which were from offended students.
Highland senior Erin Holt-Sandoval felt unsupported and upset by the district’s statement.
“I’m incredibly disappointed with them for not supporting their students and empowering them to use critical thinking,” Holt-Sandoval said. “Students miss more time due to sports and other electives; missing a few class periods to stand with their neighbors in their communities is more important than a little attendance.”
In the same week, students were encouraged to utilize their First Amendment rights but were also told they shouldn’t miss any more classes. Seems conflicting.
I think it is incredibly important that students have the ability to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. I’m not saying students should hold walkouts every week, but students missing classes occasionally for an important cause isn’t that different from missing a day for sickness, or a trip, or a school sporting event.
Nobody looks down on students who marched for civil rights because they missed a couple of classes. For many students, this is their civil rights moment.
Our school district has had plenty of communication issues in the past, and it’s important that we don’t just acknowledge the mixed messages and lack of communication and move on. A change needs to be made. Without one, students will continue to feel unsupported, parents will continue to get frustrated, and nothing good comes from that.
