Aptos High students pay stiff penalty for protests

<www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/February/06/local/stories/04local.htm>

February 6, 2003
By DONNA JONES
Sentinel staff writer

APTOS - The Aptos High School students who ditched school Friday
to stage a protest against a closed campus may find themselves
spending a little more time at school.
School officials say most of the more than 200 students will be
required to attend school on a Saturday to make up for missed
classes. A handful face suspension due to their behavior during the
protest or because their actions Friday compounded previous
class-cutting.
There are lessons to be learned from the protest, said Andrew
Goldenkranz, assistant principal.
“One is that if you decide to engage in a protest or political act,
there’s a price you’re going to pay,” he said. “It doesn’t make them
bad people, but asks them to say ‘this is what it’s worth to me.’ “
The Saturday school likely will include a community service
component, possibly a car wash, to raise funds to help offset the
costs incurred by the Sheriff’s Office, Principal Liz Modena said. The
protest cost Santa Cruz County taxpayers thousands of dollars,
according to Kim Allyn of the Sheriff’s Office.
Allyn said the Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the protest to
identify “all the responsible parties.” They could be held liable for the
costs incurred when deputies had to be called out to clear Freedom
Boulevard, he said.
Meanwhile, the protest has raised a raft of issues on campus,
including parking, traffic, food service and the lack of activities at
lunch. The administration is planning forums in coming weeks to talk
about them.
“The protest wasn’t necessarily a good idea,” said Sean Carr, a
senior and student government leader. “But something good came out
of it. It put more issues on the table.”
Carr and other student leaders criticized Friday’s protest as poorly
organized and said other steps, such as a petition drive, could have
been taken to tackle the issue. Nevertheless, some understood the
frustration that led to Friday’s action. Students feel trapped on
campus, they said.
“It’s an issue of being checked and rechecked by officers hired to
keep you here,” said Haley Hoover, also a senior and student
government leader. “It’s like a prison, and they keep putting up more
fences.”
While many students agree grievances were legitimate, some fear
the publicity put the school in a bad light. Only a small percentage of
the student body participated in the walkout, they said.
“There were 1,600 kids up here, and 200 down there,” said senior
Kelly Higginbotham. “Maybe all the kids are for it, but they knew they
just had to be in class.”
Elsa Johnson, a senior who didn’t have a first period class on Friday,
couldn’t get to school because of the blocked road. She disagreed
with the tactics of the demonstrators and their purpose. Due to the
school’s location far from restaurants where students could get
lunch an open campus wouldn’t work, she said.
“It was pretty stupid,” Johnson said.
Some students also expressed cynicism about the reasons for the
walkout.
“Probably five took it seriously, and the other 230 just wanted to get
out of class,” said freshman Max Moorman.
Sophomore Franscisco Diaz said he participated in the protest to
highlight the lack of parking on campus. School officials don’t listen
when students complain, he said.
“I protested so teachers could hear us out,” he said. “Whenever we
ask about something, they ignore us.”
Other students agreed that getting the attention of school officials is
difficult.
Modena said communication could be improved.
“I’m responsible for that,” she said. “It needs to be on the front
burner.”
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Contact Donna Jones at djones (at) santa-cruz.com