As student walkouts over federal immigration policies ramp up across Northwest Indiana, local school leaders are receiving advice from state education organizations on how to react.
Meanwhile, a proposed bill could force schools into cooperating with federal enforcement agencies or face a $10,000 fine from the attorney general’s office.
Jeff Butts, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, said Thursday his organization and the Indiana School Boards Association provided advice and case law from across the country regarding what is and isn’t permissible during a walkout or protest..
“We advised our members to file a school board policy and to follow the approved guidelines in the student handbooks to make sure that students are behaving safely,” said Butts after he spoke to a group of Northwest Indiana superintendents Thursday at Indiana University Northwest.
“You know, the Constitution still has some rights for our students. They don’t just leave them at the schoolhouse door when they walk in,” Butts said.
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“But our responsibility as school officials is to make sure our students are safe and that they are understanding where there’s teachable moments that we might be able to help them to understand.”
He said each district manages walkouts and protests differently based on their own community dynamics.
“I know some have gone quite well, and some have not. Some school districts have suspended and some have done detentions… some have really tried to make it a more teachable moment and engage the students in civics education.”
Schools try to keep students on school grounds during the walkouts to ensure their safety.
Butts said a parent can authorize their child to leave the school grounds, and once they’re off school grounds, they’re free to do what they want.
Duneland Superintendent Chip Pettit said he thinks schools are handling the protests in good fashion.
“We emphasize that student walkouts are not condoned,” he said. “But it’s every local school group’s decision in every community.
“While not condoning student walkouts, they’re also teachable moments for students,” he said.
On Feb. 12, hundreds of students at Portage High School and Griffith High School demonstrated at nearby athletic fields. In contrast, Munster High School designated the fieldhouse as a space for students who wanted to protest, but some students left school grounds to protest, making their way to Calumet Avenue in front of the Munster branch of the Lake County Public Library. Students who left the building could face disciplinary measures, school officials confirmed.
Other schools that have protested so far include East Chicago Central on Feb. 6, Hammond Central Feb. 9, and Lake Station Edison on Feb. 10.
Lake Station Assistant Superintendent Christine Pepa said school officials told students and parents ahead of time they didn’t want students to leave the grounds.
“We let the parents know what the expectations were,” she said.
River Forest Superintendent Kevin Trezak said the district hasn’t addressed walkouts in a school policy.
“We do want to adjust what we’re going to do… We know that we want to look at it but everything’s so fast-moving in the state.”
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.