Santa Barbara-area high school students walk out to protest Trump
Hundreds of students from Santa Barbara, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos high schools in Santa Barbara County walked out of class at noon Wednesday in protest of the presidential election in which Donald Trump was declared the winner with 279 electoral votes.
About 300 to 400 students marched down Anapamu Street from Santa Barbara High School to the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens downtown, and students on other campuses also gathered for rallies, according to school officials.
Speakers in a peaceful gathering at the Sunken Gardens denounced Trump’s policies, including his statements about women and the LGBTQ community. There was some brief tension when one student with a Trump/Pence shirt showed up, but it ended peacefully.
A teacher at the Santa Barbara High School rally said students will get unexcused absences for the two classes they missed Wednesday.
Students at San Marcos High School gathered at the football field.
At Dos Pueblos High School, students held a lunchtime rally on campus. Some student marchers from Dos Pueblos headed toward UC Santa Barbara’s Storke Plaza. Law enforcement units were also on scene for Dos Pueblos walkers, to clear intersections as necessary and keep walkers safe.
“To ensure student safety, staff from the respective sites and district-level administrators monitored and supervised the protests,” Santa Barbara Unified School District spokeswoman Barbara Keyani said in a statement.
“The presidential election has generated a great deal of discussion and many of our students are concerned about the election outcome,” district Superintendent Cary Matsuoka said. “Students organized a protest to call attention to their concerns following the results of yesterday’s election. We understand their desire to express their opinions, a foundational value of our society. School and district administrators took steps to monitor the noon protests so that our students were safe and able to express their opinions.”
Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Santa Barbara-area high school students walk out to protest Trump."