Mar 30, 2007 1:28 pm US/Pacific
Students Walk Out Of Schools On Cesar Chavez Day
HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. (CBS) ―
Hundreds of students walked out of East Los Angeles schools Friday calling for Cesar Chavez Day to be declared an official state holiday, officials said.
A total of about 135 students walked out of classes at Belvedere and Hollenbeck middle schools, and Roosevelt High School, said Angela Levine, an LAUSD spokeswoman. Some of the students walked around campus while others were planning to march to City Hall, Levine said.
Wilmington and Banning high schools have collectively reported about 30 students walking out to demand a state holiday for the late labor leader Chavez.
Students demanding that Chavez's birthday be treated as a full holiday in California planned to gather at East Los Angeles College on Cesar Chavez Ave. at 9 a.m., then march to City Hall before holding a news conference at the
headquarters of the Los Angeles Unified School District on South Beaudry Avenue at noon.
Only about 25 people had gathered at East Los Angeles College by about 9:15 a.m. today. But organizers said they
were not disappointed by the surprisingly low numbers.
Huntington Park's police department was braced for mass student walkouts Friday.
Huntington Park Police Chief Michael J. Trevis said the department and surrounding agencies spent time "preparing for potential school walkouts and subsequent unlawful activity which may follow."
"The Huntington Park Police Department is working with local principals and the school district police in an effort to encourage students to stay in school and discourage any unlawful activity associated with walkouts," Chief Trevis said.
The Huntington Park Police Department has experience in dealing with protests. About 1,000 students walked out of Huntington Park High School last March year to protest a bill before Congress that proposed to toughen immigration enforcement.
"Disturbances followed previous walkouts in 2006 (which) resulted in some acts of violence and students placing themselves in great danger by walking in traffic lanes," Trevis said.
In an e-mail Thursday to school district superintendents, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell denounced organizations that encouraged students to boycott school today, calling it "a misguided attempt to support immigrants to our country and honor Cesar Chavez's legacy."
"I strongly urge students not to participate in this form of protest and to attend school on Friday, which is a regular school day," he wrote.
He noted that "districts can face fiscal consequences from students not attending school," and added:
"Our students cannot afford to miss school. Our schools cannot afford student absences. And our state cannot afford to rest for even one day until we close the achievement gap that threatens the futures of so many of our immigrant students."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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