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Ditching class has sticky aftermath

Oficials say there's no doule standard for students who left school grounds to protest.

By MELANIE AVE
Published April 14, 2006

He and other students said the Durant High principal had announced the day before that seniors would be barred from graduation ceremonies if they joined a student-organized protest of federal immigration legislation.

Salmeron, the 17-year-old son of Mexican immigrants, wonders if a double standard is at play.

Most Hillsborough County high schools did not punish 12th-graders who participated in the traditional "Senior Skip Day" a week ago, when as many as 2,400 students went to the beach, to the mall or to the movies. Salmeron stayed home with friends that day, ordering pizza and watching the movie Chicken Little.

So he wants to know why students like him - and 50 Plant City High School students who left school on Monday for a different immigration rally - should face penalties for speaking out on an issue of national importance.

"Why should seniors be punished now but not punished for Senior Skip Day?" asked Salmeron, whose parents came to the United States in 1987, the year before he was born.

Durant principal Pamela Bowden said there is no double standard, only a misunderstanding between the school and students.

Seniors who participated in the rally will still be able to walk across the stage and get a diploma, she said, but they may receive an unexcused absence for missing school if their parents did not give permission beforehand.

Bowden said she decided to warn about the consequences of leaving campus without permission after reading a flier urging students to gather at the school flagpole Thursday morning. She was worried about their safety, since the flier instructed the students to walk about 5 miles north on Turkey Creek Road to busy State Road 60.

Bowden said she also warned seniors not to jeopardize any of their end-of-school-year activities by breaking school rules.

Ken Otero, the chief of staff for the Hillsborough school district, said students who come to school and then leave, as in the case of the 50 Plant City High students who were suspended, are treated differently than those who just skip.

"Once you are in school and you walk out, that's leaving campus," he said. "That's a serious offense."

About 30 Durant students participated in Thursday's rally. They met at City Hall, walked south to a Wal-Mart and circled back to a parking lot in front of Big Lots. They waved flags, danced on a Nissan and held posters reading: "Brown is Beautiful" and "We aren't aliens. We're humans."

Most of the students are of Mexican descent.

That was also the case on Monday, when about 200 Plant City High students stood outside City Hall to protest proposed legislation that could make many of their parents felons for being in the country illegally.

The 50 Plant City students who left school to attend the rally were given suspensions ranging from one to three days. Students who skipped school altogether were given unexcused absences, unless their parents had called in to give their permission.

Several School Board members said Thursday they have no problem with the varied punishments.

Students who leave school without permission should be punished, said board member Jennifer Faliero.

"You're making a choice," she said. "You should be prepared for whatever consequences."

Faliero called Senior Skip Day a different issue.

"Kids on Senior Skip Day aren't coming to school," she said. "They're absent. But if you have kids leaving campus, that's an issue. The principal has to do what is necessary for the safety of those children."

Senior Skip Day has long been considered a rite of passage for graduating students, a well-deserved break after 13 years of school. Many parents condoned the day of hooky and called in with excuses of doctor appointments or illness.

District attendance records showed 2,485 seniors were absent on April 5, the designated skip day this year. On the previous Wednesday, 861 students were absent.

But not all principals looked the other way.

Middleton High School principal James Gatlin warned his 12th-graders they could not exempt their final tests or attend senior send-off day if they skipped. Still, nearly half the school's seniors were absent April 5. They were not happy to learn of the consequences once they returned.

Gatlin said he saw no choice.

"Over my years, I've seen some terrible things happen on these days," he said. "Everything from fights to automobile accidents, overdoses. I understand childish shenanigans, but my bottom line is I do have a greater responsibility."

At the Durant student rally, several motorists honked and waved to the students as they drove past. Police warned the students after someone threw a can that hit a motorist who had gestured in anger at the rally.

Dozens of other students planned to join the rally, but their classmates said administrators locked the gates after buses arrived in the morning.

Bowden said the gates were not locked and students were not prohibited from leaving campus. She said she and a school resource officer did stand in the school foyer in case a large crowd gathered around the flagpole, but only one girl showed up.

"They were so scared," said junior Kim Rojas, 17, a self-described "good student" who was at the rally.

Sylvia Torres, of the group Immigrants United for Freedom, applauded the students for standing up for a good cause. She told them to take their punishment, whatever it is, with pride.

"I told them, when you go back to school, walk with your head high," she said. "I am proud of these kids. I told everybody, they are standing up for their rights and their parents' rights."

Times staff writers Elizabeth Dyer contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at 813 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 14, 2006, 07:26:57]