Gilroy
– More than 40 high school students attempting to leave campus
to march for immigrants rights were threatened with arrest when
they refused to return to class after lunch Tuesday afternoon.
Gilroy – More than 40 high school students attempting to leave campus to march for immigrants rights were threatened with arrest when they refused to return to class after lunch Tuesday afternoon.
The threat – and subsequent dispersal of students it caused – put an end to an almost hour-long conflict between Gilroy High School administrators, backed by all nine Gilroy Police Department officers on duty, and a mass of students that at times numbered more than 150.
“I had hoped that it wasn’t going to happen today,” Principal James Maxwell said. “I had hoped it wasn’t going to happen any day.”
Just Not During Class Time
The problems with the student demonstration started at 12:35pm, early in the lunch period, when about 60 students – the majority of them of Mexican or Mexican-American descent, wearing long white T-shirts and blue jeans, and yelling – tried to walk out of the school’s south gate. Administrators – who had heard rumors of the march and had closed school gates and asked for backup from the police in anticipation – cut them off there and again at the north gate when the group turned and picked up more steam. About 10 students jumped over the gate during this time, but several returned to school when a police car spotted them on Princevalle Street and ordered them to return to school.
The school’s objections with the march had nothing to do with the message, but with the students missing class, said Mary Ann Boylan, the assistant principal.
“We support their rights, but we don’t support their right to leave school,” she said.
Problems with the protesting group resurfaced at 1:15pm, at the end of the lunch period, when more than 40 students gathered tightly together around a metal picnic table near the theater and refused to return to class. Even with five police officers, the principal, three assistant principals, the dean of students, and more than a half-dozen teachers and security guards ringed around the students, they continued to yell, with protests often aimed at authority in general.
After about five minutes, Sgt. John Sheedy informed the group that more police were on the way.
“You’re going to have about two minutes to disperse,” he yelled to the crowd. “After that, we’re going to start arresting people.”
However, students only went back to class after a police car arrived on the scene and Sheedy used its megaphone to formally warn the crowd to disperse. Under the penal code, the police can arrest anybody who ignores formal orders to disperse on the grounds of resisting arrest, said Jim Gillio, the department’s public information officer.
The maneuver was meant to stop the disruption the students were causing, said Sheedy.
“You have a right to demonstrate during your lunch break but you cannot interfere with other classes,” he said. “You want to celebrate after school – rock on.”
For Every Action, a Reaction
The students not only escaped arrest, they will not face disciplinary charges from the school.
“There’s lots of people who think you punish, punish, punish,” said Maxwell. “That’s not sound policy. Consequences are given out to get a change. We don’t expect the kids to do this again tomorrow.”
However, teachers marked students who were late to class because of the standoff with administrators and police as tardy, he said. Tardy marks and disciplinary issues count against a student’s citizenship points, which are needed to be eligible to be a part of a team or club. If a student has very few points, it can prevent the student from graduating or going on the senior trip to Disneyland in June.
A Problem That Can’t Be Ignored
The student march was in concert with larger efforts by local, California and nationwide organizations to raise awareness of the challenges immigrants face. Hundreds of thousands people took part in rallies across the United States Tuesday.
Thus, the administrators blocking the walkout was a disappointment for many of the students.
“That’s just a way to show the way we feel and I don’t think it’s fair,” said sophomore Pedro Garcia.
Students leaving class to participate ran contrary to the wishes expressed by several area organizations, who encouraged students to take part in rallies this past and coming weekends instead.
The school also plays a part in affecting social change, said Jose Hernandez, the Latinos Program Advisor and whose parents came from Jalisco, Mexico.
“The most empowering thing you get from a school is you discover your social rights, your social responsibilities,” he said.
Yet, the school has a responsibility to try to keep its students in class, he added.
“It’s a little reminder, education must be first.”
