Overview:
Parents say four students were disciplined by Merced Union High School District for their involvement with anti-ICE protests. Some say the district was legally out of bounds.
Despite hundreds of students participating in the January anti-ICE walkout protests across campuses in Merced Union High School District, the district disciplined just four students – a move that drew the ire of some parents, advocates, and the local chapter of the ACLU.
The school district has since walked back the blemish on at least two of those students’ records, according to their parents. “You have a disparity in treatment here. That’s the big concern,” parent Jason Fragulia told The Merced FOCUS.
In late January, over 375 Merced Union High School District students abruptly walked out of five campuses, according to the school district, to protest enforcement action across the country by federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
The student walkout coincided with the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis, Minnesota just weeks prior.
The protests eventually dispersed peacefully and no students were arrested.
Still, four students were disciplined by the school district for their involvement with the protests, parents told The FOCUS.
While Merced Union High School District officials did not confirm the total number of students disciplined due to the walkouts, they said truancy policies were followed correctly.
“Consequences vary depending on what level of truancy a student is at,” MUHSD officials said in a written response to questions from The FOCUS. “… Students who notified the school ahead of the absence were excused from school.”
Parents fight discipline
The move to discipline certain students upset parents like Adam Shane, whose child was one of the four disciplined by the district.
According to Shane, the district routinely alerts parents for minor infractions, such as using a phone during class. However, he learned later that week from his own son, Addison, 16, that he was facing discipline for the walkout. Shane also told The FOCUS he didn’t receive anything in writing.
“‘We know you’re one of the main organizers,’” a school official told his son, according to Shane.
According to Shane, Addison was given an “IC.” The school district says that is the “Intervention Center.” Addison was told he could be suspended for “willful defiance” after he asked school officials on what grounds he would face discipline, Shane said.
“We use IC as ‘other means of correction’ to provide intervention for some behaviors,” said Viviana Miyake, MUHSD spokesperson.
Two of Jason and Sharlee Fragulia’s daughters attended the protests. One was called out of school by their parents while their other daughter, Phoebe, was not. The Fragulias said the school disciplined Phoebe.
“She was (given) in-class suspension,” Sharlee said.
“I completely understand the frustration that our youth have at this time, and I actually applaud them for the courage that they have to stand up and fight for the change they want to see.”
Merced District 6 Councilmember Fue Xiong
Shane began contacting school officials with concerns regarding the disciplining of the students in March. According to Shane, Merced High’s Associate Principal-Student Support Kelly Silva affirmed they would meet over the issue. But the meeting never happened, despite Shane’s follow-ups.
After forwarding the correspondence with Silva to the superintendent’s office, Shane was granted a meeting with Deputy Superintendent Mandy Ballenger on April 15. Shane, who sought for the students’ records to be expunged, said “They are pretty much giving us what we asked for,” after the meeting.
After meeting with a school official on the same day, the Fragulias said a note would be added to their daughter Phoebe’s record.
The Merced FOCUS could not confirm if the other two disciplined students had their records expunged or a similar resolution. The district cited student privacy and declined to provide specifics on the students.
Attorney argues against legality of discipline
Despite the apparent resolution, the move to discipline the students at all may be contrary to California state law, according to Turlock-based attorney Harlan Diven, who works for California Rural Legal Assistance.
Diven argues that under California law, schools can only suspend students for specific criteria, and a walkout is not on the list, nor is being absent.
“You have to create a substantial disruption to the school environment for them to have grounds for suspension, and these students left at lunch time. There was no disruption,” Diven said.
Diven also says “willful defiance” as a category for suspension has not been lawful in California since 2004.
District officials defended the actions by saying that no students were suspended, despite parents feeling that the “Intervention Center” amounts to in-school suspension. The school district further said the walkouts were treated as an “attendance matter.”
The disciplinary moves by school officials caught the attention of advocates, who attended the district’s April 15 board meeting to voice concerns and support the affected students. Some said they were concerned about what the district’s decisions meant for students’ freedom of speech.
“It’s important that we center community concerns and our youth in today’s political climate,” Merced City Councilmember Fue Xiong said at the meeting. “With our war of aggression against Iran, the genocide of Palestinians, the state sanctioning of kidnapping through ICE … and the fact that nobody’s held accountable for the crimes committed on Epstein Island.”
“I completely understand the frustration that our youth have at this time, and I actually applaud them for the courage that they have to stand up and fight for the change they want to see,” he said.
When asked if punishing students for organizing could chill civic engagement and free speech, a representative for the school district responded simply: “No.”