In support of Pajaro Valley High School walkout

PVUSD is at risk of endorsing a twisted account of the Pájaro Valley High School walkout, a narrative that strips students of political agency and infringes on their constitutional rights while professing concern for their well-being.

In a window in which the federal government has deployed ICE and the Border Patrol as lethal instruments of fascist terror against migrant communities and their allies, students across the country—including thousands across Santa Cruz County alone—courageously chose to walk out in mass protest a week and a half ago.

This time-honored tradition has precedent in the historic 1968 East LA walkouts in which over 15,000 mostly Chicano students, including the visionary youth who founded the Brown Berets, walked out of seven high schools, refusing to accept a racist and unequal education. A year later, in 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

In a majority ruling, the justices made clear that “[i]n our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are ‘persons’ under our Constitution.” The Supreme Court reminded school officials that “they are educating the young for citizenship…not to strangle the free mind at its source and teach youth to discount important principles of our government as mere platitudes.”

California Education Code 48205 (12)(A) goes so far as to specify that students choosing to take part in a civic or political event will be excused one school day per year. In compliance with the law, San José teachers received instructions from their associate principals: “In the event any of your students walked out of class to participate in today’s NO ICE walk-out,…do not make any changes to their attendance.”

California Senate Bill 955 (SB955) likewise implicitly affirms students’ right to engage in civic and political activities outside of school during school hours. This is to underscore what the law firmly recognizes: students cannot be denied their constitutionally guaranteed right to protest.

In stark contrast, on a day of nationwide student walkouts, PV High principal Todd Wilson approved a paternalistic activity that aimed to circumscribe student protest to a short performative on-campus exercise to be followed by a pizza party, as if fighting for rights during these times is a game.

According to student witnesses, he threatened to tow the cars of students taking part in the walkout. Yet rather than addressing his egregiously retaliatory behavior, the PVUSD board now entertains an item that would formally exclude from PV High grounds Trustee Medina, the very district official who stepped in to mediate the situation.

Item 9.3 on the PVUSD board agenda (“Discussion and Possible Action to Issue Stay Away Letter to Trustee with Regard to Entering Pájaro Valley High School Campus”), by aligning with Wilson in his suppression of student protest, verges on violating the Constitution. It demonstrates how out of step the district’s leadership is with the community it is meant to serve.

This explosive agenda item will ignite the fury of a community that has long been targeted by state violence, dehumanized, criminalized, and stripped of rights. Leadership and clarity are desperately needed here. All parties involved—Wilson, impacted students, and Medina—should have a mediated dialogue in which Wilson commits to respecting his students’ First Amendment rights. This is all the more important because some teachers have sadly added fuel to the fire.

Already unnecessarily heated, this situation is made more incendiary by the PVUSD board’s wrong-minded approach. When the government itself threatens the exercise of democracy, the right to protest must not be illegally curbed by school and district officials. Instead, let’s take our cues from Principal Mike Tison Yee at King Middle School in Berkeley. Although the mass student walkout, he clarified in a letter to parents, was not a “district-sanctioned event,” he emphasized that “Because Berkeley Unified has a long tradition of students peacefully exercising their right to free speech, our educators are prepared, should BUSD students choose to participate.” Here, he elaborated that “an administrator [was prepared to] follow and observe, ready to support in the event of a safety issue.”

This is an example of not just cooler heads prevailing, but administrators safeguarding their students’ democratic right to protest. More than a model of what could have been done, this is what actually was done across the country. Indeed, variations on Principal Yee’s message were sent out by numerous other principals who similarly struck a balance between concern for their students’ safety and respect for their First Amendment rights. By contrast, Wilson needlessly antagonized his students by threatening them with retaliation if they walked out in protest against ICE. Principal Wilson’s punitive and coercive response stands out as a negative example of petty authoritarianism during these already repressive times. He should be reminded that he runs a school, not a prison.

In closing, we demand that Superintendent Heather Contreras issue an immediate public letter of apology for pushing the addition of Item 9.3 to the agenda. Her letter should inform parents about students’ rights to protest and furnish resources toward that end. Should the board move forward with Item 9.3, the superintendent should be removed for failure of leadership and damage to the community.

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The following parents, community members, and local educators support this letter:

Lourdes Barraza, parent of PVUSD students and Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member

Christine Hong, professor, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Literature, UC Santa Cruz, and Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member

Gabriel Barraza, parent of PVUSD students and Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member

Tammy Isidro, parent of a PVUSD student

Maria Mead, parent of a PVUSD student

Providence M. Alaniz, parent of a PVUSD student

Nat Low, PVUSD community member and Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member

Eli Davies, PVUSD community member and Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member

Roy Recio, Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member and founder of the Tobera Project

Tricia Gallagher-Geurtsen, professor, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Education, UC Santa Cruz

Alice Yang, professor, History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, UC Santa Cruz

Cheryl M. Williams, Founding Director, Santa Cruz Black and Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member

Chris Davis, Cofounder, Santa Cruz Black and Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice member

Melisa Casumbal-Salazar, lecturer, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Literature, UC Santa Cruz

Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, professor, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, UC Santa Cruz

Jennifer Kelly, professor, Feminist Studies and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, UC Santa Cruz

m. ty, professor, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, UC Santa Cruz