Schools prepare for Monday boycott

By: PAUL EAKINS - Staff Writer | Friday, April 28, 2006 10:58 PM PDT ∞

NORTH COUNTY ---- The school year drawing to a close, and with state tests scheduled for next week ---- and some school districts already trying to make up money and class time lost to student protests in March ---- school officials have one message for students:

Show up for class Monday.

Students who have unexcused absences or who walk off campus will face consequences such as suspension or extra class time, officials at 11 North County school districts said this week. But more importantly, they said, the students will lose valuable educational time in a school year already disrupted once by student demonstrations.

A nationwide boycott of schools, work and businesses to protest stricter immigration laws is planned for Monday, and North County school officials have been preparing for it, they said this week. Although most district officials said they expect a normal day Monday, districts have been contacting parents, talking with students and planning class discussions to ensure students don't stay home from school.

"Our district has already experienced disruptions due to walkouts and protests this year, and now it is time once again to focus our attention on academics," Oceanside Unified School District Superintendent Ken Noonan said in a letter sent home to parents this week. "We all benefit when our students take full advantage of their education."

Countywide coordination


Taking a cue from the March protests that saw hundreds of students walk out of class, and protesters in Escondido and Oceanside clash with police, officials with the San Diego County Office of Education organized a meeting this week with county superintendents to prepare for Monday's boycott.

About 30 San Diego County superintendents, including many from North County, talked with county Superintendent of Schools Rudy Castruita about what actions they could legally take on campus to discipline students, and how best to handle the boycott.

"The purpose of the meeting was to get the districts all on the same page, so they have consistent responses to the actions on May 1, and that those actions are legal," said Jim Esterbrooks, county education office spokesman. "The basic message that everybody's going to be delivering is that kids belong in school and workers belong on the job."

Esterbrooks said schools can't suspend students for missing one day of class, but they can suspend them if they are defiant, such as opposing a direct order from a teacher to go to class.

County officials also told superintendents that school employees should be at their jobs Monday unless they have gone through the correct process to take a vacation day or unpaid leave, he said.

The superintendents talked about how schools can use the immigration issue as a learning tool in class, Esterbrooks said. But above all else, the meeting stressed that students, employees and parents must understand what the rules are and why a district has set them, he said.

"The real big point, almost the overriding point, is communicate with your workers and students," Esterbrooks said.

Spreading the word


In addition to the letter sent to parents by Oceanside Unified addressing the boycott, officials at Fallbrook Union High, Escondido Union, San Marcos Unified, Ramona Unified and Vista Unified school districts called parents or sent them letters to remind them that children need to be in school.

Many schools also have been stressing to students that they need to be in class and are giving them other outlets to voice their opinion, such as the open forum held Friday at Escondido High School.

Ed Nelson, superintendent of Escondido Union High School District, said that through the forums and class discussions, students have begun to realize that missing class may not be the best way to further their immigration cause.

"Our kids have learned very much that (they) can become victims, that they can be used" for political ends, Nelson said. "Our student body is better able to understand the issues and what the ramifications are for missing school. ... That's the safest, most secure area for them to be ---- and certainly in their best interest."

Although district officials said they won't have extra security Monday, Vista Unified, Valley Center-Pauma Unified and Escondido Union High school district officials all said that they have met with or contacted law enforcement officials to ensure schools can get help quickly if needed.

Some districts, such as Ramona Unified, have also sent letters to employees notifying them that they, too, are expected to be present Monday.

"Their obligation is to provide a positive learning environment for kids and to be here," Ramona Unified Superintendent Peter Schiff said.

For students and employees, Schiff said, "there's plenty of opportunity outside of the school day to voice your opinion."

School or consequences


Students who do have unexcused school absences Monday will face the same disciplinary action they would on any other day, officials said. In most cases, that means some sort of Saturday class or after-school detention, officials said.

Most district officials said that if students walk out to join the boycott after they have arrived at school, especially if they are told by a teacher to go to class, the students could face more severe punishments, such as suspension.

Noonan laid out Oceanside Unified's policy very clearly in his letter to parents.

"Students who are absent without an approved excuse, such as illness, are subject to disciplinary action," the letter says. "Students with unexcused absences will be assigned to Saturday school. Students with unexcused absences will not be given tests, quizzes or class work that they miss as a result of their absence. Students who leave school to participate in walkouts or boycotts will be considered to be in defiance of school authority and may be subject to disciplinary action such as suspension from school."

According to school code, any acts of violence by students on campus could result in expulsion.

While the disciplinary action is one reason officials said students should be in school, they also said schools are at an important academic point. With final exams looming at high schools and the academic year nearing an end, officials said students need to take advantage of every minute in the classroom.

Also, students are in the middle of various state standardized exams. This week, high school students finished their Standardized Testing and Reporting exams, and next week they will begin Advanced Placement exams.

If students in Escondido Union High miss these exams, Nelson said, they won't be able to make them up.

And the exams also begin next week in many North County elementary schools for students in second through fifth grades. By state law, the scores aren't valid if too few students show up to take the exam, said Darrel Taylor, Vista Unified interim superintendent.

"If we have a large absentee number, we've got to make those tests up in some fashion," he said.

But Taylor said that he and the other superintendents who attended Tuesday's meeting were mostly positive about the prospects for student attendance.

"We're all confident that we'll have a good school day on Monday, May 1, and students will show up," Taylor said.

Busy time at colleges


Officials at Cal State San Marcos, Palomar College and MiraCosta College said they expect very few disruptions Monday, partly because students are focused on term papers due in the next two weeks, and final exams that begin in mid-May.

"We're not doing anything out of the ordinary," said Joe Madrigal, vice president of student services at Palomar.

Madrigal said he has not heard of any concerted effort among students or campus groups to participate in Monday's boycott, but that demonstrations will be allowed as long as they are under control.

"Demonstrations will definitely be allowed, but we will remind them to mind their P's and Q's," said Madrigal.

Madrigal said the timing of the event makes it unlikely that a large number of college students will participate.

"They all know it's a bad idea to miss class so close to finals," said Madrigal, noting that high school final exams will not occur until a few weeks later. "We see the colleges as being different from the high schools in that way."

Cheryl Kyle, a spokeswoman for MiraCosta, said the college is not making any special preparations because nothing out of the ordinary has been scheduled for Monday.

"Right now, it looks Monday will be just an ordinary day at MiraCosta," said Kyle.

Mary Kenny, interim director of communications at Cal State San Marcos, said the college is aware of the boycott but has not made any special preparations.

"We don't really have any plans at all," said Kenny. "We can't really predict what will happen."

There are no midterms or finals scheduled for Monday, she said, adding that professors will have the discretion to discipline students for missing class.

Three schools do not expect a rash of employee absences either, the officials said.

Staff writer David Garrick contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com.

Immigration rallies Monday


San Marcos: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cal State San Marcos, Kellogg Library Plaza.

Vista: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Wildwood Park, Escondido Avenue and East Vista Way.

Escondido: 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Grape Day Park, Woodward Avenue and North Broadway.

San Diego: 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Balboa Park, 6th Avenue and Laurel Street.