Troubled by ICE, SLO County teacher has a message for school board: I quit
San Luis Obispo County teacher Jehan Mirzaei did something at a Feb. 3 school board meeting that virtually no one expected — he quit.
The action came after Mirzaei spoke with a student who had seen a video of the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent. The student expressed fear about ICE showing up in Atascadero.
Mirzaei, concerned about the growing fear of ICE among both students and staff at Atascadero Middle School, where he taught multiple subjects over four years, took his worries to his administrators.
He wanted to organize a broad conversation with students to educate them about district policies and validate their fears.
Instead, he says he was told that conversation would be too political, and that administrators were choosing to speak with students on a case-by-case basis.
For Mirzaei, that response was unacceptable, so he walked to the podium at the school board meeting and resigned on the spot.
“Until the adults show that they can be braver with their voices than the students have to be with their physical selves, I’m not going to be working at AMS (Atascadero Middle School),” he told the board on Feb. 3, “and this is my last day.”
The Tribune spoke with Mirzaei in depth about the reasons why he decided to leave, and what he hopes to accomplish.
“We are, you know, hiding the fact that there is an issue, and we’re putting the burden on the student and the family … as if it needs to be something that needs to be kept quiet, as if it’s something that they’re responsible for, for being brown,” he said of the district’s response.
Student concerns hit home for Mirzaei
Mirzaei, who is Iranian on his father’s side, told The Tribune that there was a moment in his own schooling when he came to reckon with his race.
It was around the time of the 9/11 attacks, and he was in seventh grade.
“Everybody suffered on that day,” Mirzaei said. “It shouldn’t be overshadowed at all because it was just awful for everybody, but it was kind of around the time I realized that the people in the news, who were the ones responsible, looked a lot like me. And that there might be something coming my way based on that.”
Those memories resurfaced as he spoke with students and staff in January who felt that they may be targeted by ICE — and he offered to lean on his own experiences to help students feel seen.
On Jan. 9, he emailed his principal, offering to draft a speech to present on the morning announcements or otherwise find a way to speak with students broadly about ICE.
He sent the email the day after he had heard from a student who expressed fear about federal agents after seeing a video of Good’s shooting.
“He didn’t know names, but he said he had seen somebody shot in the face, and that he knew that there was no repercussions for that person who did that,” Mirzaei told The Tribune.
Mirzaei said he also had conversations with staff members who were scared of ICE, including one who worried that they would be intercepted by immigration agents on their way to work.
According to Mirzaei, his principal did not respond to his email. Mirzaei tried forwarding it to other administrators but said he still received no response.
Teacher reprimanded after participating in anti-ICE protest
In line with his larger concerns about ICE and its impact on his community, Mirzaei decided to participate in a national anti-ICE protest that called for no work, no school and no shopping on Jan. 30. The strike resulted in multiple student walkouts and business closures in SLO County.
Mirzaei told The Tribune he prepared plans for a substitute teacher and gave them to the school that morning, notifying staff that he would not be working.
He later got a call from his principal asking why he didn’t show up for class.
“He said that I had no right to — on the phone — no right to walk out,” Mirzaei recounted. “He also said that I was making it an unsafe place by not being there. I was making the school more unsafe.”
Mirzaei said he asked the principal about ICE and about the district’s policies regarding federal immigration agents.
“He said it’s implied that we would protect our kids and that they are safe at school,” Mirzaei said. “I told him it’s very much not implied by all the recent events that are happening, because our students are definitely saying that nobody is being held accountable.”
He continued: “We ended it there, and I didn’t go to work.”
Mirzaei instead spent the day playing drums at a small protest in Atascadero.
When he returned to school the next week, a meeting between him and the principal had been scheduled.
It was during that meeting that Mirzaei decided to quit on the spot, and then was handed and official reprimand for walking out the previous Friday.
During the conversation, Mirzaei brought up the emails he previously sent to his principal, asking again about whether or not any discussion would be had with students.
Mirzaei said he was told that those conversations would happen individually, if students brought up concerns.
“I asked him why, like, the burden was on the kids to come forward about this, not knowing if we cared or not, and not knowing that it was an issue that we thought about,” Mirzaei recounted to The Tribune. “And he said that this would be too political to come out and say, and that it was easier to do this case by case.”
Mirzaei couldn’t accept that response.
“We’re putting the comfort of the adults who don’t want to talk politics, above the safety of the students, the well-being of the students,” he told The Tribune.
“Political or not, it doesn’t sit right with me,” he added.
Mirzaei said the conversation went back and forth for a while, but he ultimately felt that there was a fundamental disagreement at hand, and understood that the administration did not plan to speak with students at large.
It was at that point he decided to quit.
“He asked me if I might want to consider it, like, think on it, sleep on it,” Mirzaei recounted. “But I was good.”
He turned in his keys and began cleaning out his classroom. Mirzaei said it was only after he had resigned that the principal gave him the letter detailing his official reprimand for walking out.
Mirzaei was told that he didn’t properly fill out his sub plans, which he told The Tribune was because he had never done it before, as he’d never missed a day of work in his four years with the district.
The reprimand also said Mirzaei didn’t follow the proper procedures for missing work.
“This action placed an undue burden on colleagues and administrators, disrupted instructional time, and compromised the orderly operation of the school day,” the letter read. “Leaving assigned duties unattended, regardless of the reason, without proper authorization, is unacceptable and inconsistent with district expectations and professional standards.”
Atascadero school district responds
The Tribune reached out to the Atascadero School District and Atascadero Middle School principal Jeff Spiller to confirm the district’s policy for responding to ICE, and to inquire about the school’s decision to inform students on an individual basis.
Spiller did not respond to the request, but Superintendent Tom Bennett did.
“I can assure you and the Atascadero community that student and staff safety is our No. 1 priority,” he told The Tribune via email. “We place a high value on maintaining a safe learning environment so that our community members, staff and students alike, can thrive in our schools.”
He said the district’s campuses have structured protocols, trained staff and systems in place to support students and respond to family or student concerns.
Bennett could not respond to inquiries about Mirzaei’s employment or reprimand specifically due to personnel privacy laws.
He added that students and staff have different rights when it comes to protests.
“Students have the right to engage in free speech so long as they do not disrupt the school environment,” he wrote. “Meanwhile, employees are required to continue to perform their job duties. It is critical that AUSD employees remain at work so that the schools can adequately and safely supervise students.”
He said the district respects its employees’ rights to participate in political activities outside of work.
“With regard to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, AUSD complies with applicable law,” he said. “California law also prohibits immigration enforcement officers from entering nonpublic areas of a school site for any purpose without presenting a valid judicial warrant, subpoena or court order. School officials are required to request valid identification of officers seeking access.”
In his email, Bennett mentioned the district’s protocol for responding to immigration enforcement efforts on campus, if that were to occur, but he did not attach the policy to the email. The Tribune reached out to obtain that policy but had not received a response as of Wednesday afternoon.
What’s next for Atascadero teacher who resigned?
Mirzaei officially signed his resignation papers on Friday.
He said he doesn’t have specific next steps in mind following his departure from the school district.
For him, he felt that resigning was the step he needed to take to stand up for his beliefs and set an example for his students. Until something changes, he said, he would not be returning to Atascadero schools.
“I feel I have a better voice to speak for all students by not coming back,” he said.
As for the larger school system, Mirzaei said he was not planning to return to the classroom anytime soon.
He told The Tribune he had already received supportive messages from community members as of the day after his resignation, including messages from students who said they’d miss him but understood why he did what he did.
Mirzaei added that he doesn’t want this to be about him, because other community members before him have stood up, said something or pushed back against things they don’t believe in.
For now, Mirzaei said he plans to continue protesting, playing drums, writing and drawing.
Even if he’s not in the classroom, Mirzaei said, he still feels like he’ll be teaching his students.
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
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