Council member downplays his part in student walkout
CALEXICO — Calexico City Council Member Raul Ureña has taken exception to comments from the Calexico Unified School District characterizing his role in a student walkout that took place at Calexico High School on Thursday.
The students who participated in the walkout Calexico High School Students were protesting a years-long impasse in contract negotiations between the district and Associated Calexico Teachers.
The union has been working without a contract for nearly five years.
In a statement issued Thursday, CUSD admonished students for making “a concerted effort to participate in an activity not sponsored by the District or School and missed valuable instructional time during the school day.”
The district also noted that the students appeared to be acting under Ureña’s leadership.
“The students marched to the front of the District Office, where the administration heard Mr. Ureña instruct students to protest peacefully,” the district said. “The group of students then sat down in the middle of the street on Andrade Ave. to demonstrate,” said the statement. “While the students were sitting in the street, cars and semi-trucks passed them. Students then began to march again down Highway 98 and then to Encinas Ave. To ensure student safety, district personnel, proctors, and other staff members followed the students as they marched with Council Member Ureña.”
According to the statement, Ureña and the group of students then returned to the Public Library and continued demonstrating throughout the school day.
Ureña indicated the district has overemphasized his role in the demonstration.
“They made us think that their best students, those attending top universities can’t organize by themselves,” he said. “It is cynical that they are trying to affect me instead of dealing with the problem.”
In CUSD’s statement, students who engaged in a walkout are documented as having an unexcused absence and considered “truant.”
“We remind our community that students are subject to compulsory school attendance laws set forth in the Education Code and our District’s attendance policies. Disciplinary measures may apply to students who do not adhere to attendance requirements and policies,” the district said.