Continued student protesting on immigration issue sparks Utah school officials' concern

SALT LAKE CITY — Amid continuing walkouts and demonstrations by Utah students opposed to the federal immigration crackdown, school officials around the state are starting to worry about the potential educational impact.

They're also warning that walkouts — neither sanctioned nor supervised by school officials — raise safety concerns, in part due to the possibility of confrontations with others the protesters encounter.

Following a spate of student protesting last Friday, representatives from the Granite, Salt Lake City and Ogden school districts messaged parents, warning them about the potential negative repercussions of demonstrating. Students from at least one Ogden junior high school walked out and protested on Monday with more demonstrations expected around the state in coming days.

"As we have stated in communication to families, we respect the right of students to peacefully protest. However, we have concerns about safety and the lost instruction time for students," Ogden School District spokesman Jer Bates said in a message to KSL on Monday. "Our preference would be that if students choose to participate in these peaceful protests, that they do so outside of school hours with careful planning regarding time and location with the intent of ensuring safety."

Hundreds of students walked out of classes around Utah last Friday, marching in the streets with signs critical of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and chanting slogans critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, responsible for enforcing U.S. immigration law. Students from Murray High and Hillcrest Junior High in Murray, Taylorsville High in Taylorsville, Corner Canyon High in Draper, Granger High in West Valley City and West High, East High and Highland High in Salt Lake City protested, though organizers said 15 schools in all took part in the action. Many more students from other schools walked out and protested earlier in the week and in the last week of January as well.

Rich Stowell, spokesman for Alpine School District in Utah County, said students from five or six district high schools staged walkouts and protests last week, with around 200 students in all taking part. Other walkouts have drawn participation from as many as 250 or more students from individual Utah schools, including an estimated 350 who took part in a walkout from Highland High last week.

"Generally, we would prefer that our students remain in class to continue learning. We also recognize that some issues raise passions and interest for some of our students, and we will use these events as opportunities to learn about citizenship, critical thinking and communication," Stowell said. "If a student misses an hour of class, there are many opportunities to make up that hour of learning in other ways."

Similarly, Yándary Chatwin, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City School District, offered a measure of empathy. "We respect our students' First Amendment rights and care deeply about them, their families and our broader Salt Lake community. The current political climate is challenging, and we know many in our district community are directly impacted by ongoing national and local issues," she said.

However, Chatwin also noted the downside in the form of missed class time, echoing the statements last Friday from the Granite, Salt Lake City and Ogden school districts, which asked parents to discuss the matter with their kids.

"Missing school has a negative impact on (students') education. While an occasional absence may not seem significant, every missed class period is a missed opportunity for learning," reads the Salt Lake City School District statement. "Please speak with your student about ways to speak out on issues they care about without impacting their education. Your support matters in helping students attend their classes every day."

The Ogden School District message noted the potential dangers for protesters of marching along busy streets, which has been typical of many of the Utah student protests. The varied messages also noted that school officials don't supervise activities off school campuses.

"These conditions can pose significant risks, including the possibility of students being struck by vehicles or becoming involved in conflicts with individuals who may attempt to provoke or antagonize demonstrators. During a recent walkout, such confrontations occurred and resulted in a small conflict and police intervention," the Ogden statement reads.

Beyond that, Bates suspects some students are using protests as a pretext just to skip class.

"We can only estimate, but given the numbers of students who left class compared to the approximate numbers of those who participated in the protests, it suggests that most students who left school chose to protest while others simply used it as an excuse to leave school," he said.

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