By ROBIN SHEPARD
Times Correspondent
The Five Corners intersection in Atwater was crowded Monday with high school student activists protesting Trump administration Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies.
An estimated 130 students from Atwater High School left campus and walked approximately 1 ½ miles to the busy intersection around noon carrying signs with political messages while shouting slogans to passing motorists.
Several large national flags of Mexico were unfurled at the intersection, and many motorists honked horns in support of the protest.
Similar student walkouts were conducted last week by other local high school students, according to Viviana Fuentes, spokesperson for the Merced Union High School District.
The walkouts were organized by students through social media sites and administrators knew of them in advance, Fuentes said, cautioning that the District had no role in organizing, sponsoring, or endorsing them.
Aside from the numbers at Atwater High School, the District estimates that about 45 students walked out in protest at Buhach Colony High School. Additionally, about 25 students at El Capitan High School walked out, with 104 at Merced High School and between 5-100 students at Golden Valley High School.
For Atwater and Buhach Colony high school families, parent notifications were sent through the ParentSquare app on Sunday prior to the walkouts.
Atwater school administrators also coordinated in advance with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office and Atwater Police Department for increased monitoring, Fuentes said.
“Administrators closely monitored the situation to ensure campus safety throughout the day,” she said. “For students who did not have parental permission or were enrolled in class at the time, parents were notified immediately . . .”
Fuentes said that the District followed its own walkout procedures, and in Atwater school administrators and city police were present to observe the protest with an emphasis on student safety.
Fuentes said district and school site administrators had safety protocols in place to monitor student movement and campus conditions.
“School administrators remained in communication with law enforcement and school resource officers throughout the events,” she said.
Fuentes maintained that students have the right to engage in civil actions, however the District would prefer students conduct them after school hours.
“Students are not physically detained if they attempt to leave campus,” she said.
“If a student leaves campus without authorization, their attendance is impacted and they may be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with district policy.”
Any disciplinary actions against the student protestors are made by site administrators using appropriate education codes, district policies, and the individual student circumstances.