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Students protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations across Fairfax County Public Schools say administrators have responded with inconsistent warnings and penalties, ranging from detention to possible graduation restrictions.
At-large school board member Ryan McElveen said schools appear to be enforcing the rules differently. Centreville High School students were warned they could receive detention for leaving, he said, while students elsewhere heard that participating might prevent them from walking at graduation.
Annandale High School students planned an anti-ICE walkout during class on Feb. 6. Senior Layan Dahab, one of the organizers, said the principal acknowledged the cause but cited rules adopted after the previous year’s protests over Palestine.
The day before the demonstration, the principal pulled students aside and urged them to cancel it. According to Dahab, he said the protest could reflect poorly on the school, needed to occur before or after school hours and should be postponed until the following week.
Dahab said the principal also warned of consequences without immediately specifying what they would be. As organizers waited for an answer, teachers’ speculation added to students’ concerns.
Teachers suggested the principal might prevent participants from crossing the graduation stage, Dahab said, citing his response to a student who made an obscene gesture toward an Israeli flag the year before.
Students proceeded with the Feb. 6 walkout despite the warnings. Participants were marked tardy for their next class, and those returning to the building were required to add their names to a spreadsheet.
Centreville students encountered a different response ahead of their planned Feb. 11 anti-ICE walkout. Organizer Sasha* said administrators described the demonstration as a safety concern and warned participants that they could receive detention.
Sasha contacted McElveen, who spoke with the principals. Students ultimately were not punished.
The Centreville demonstration took place during the final class period at a nearby off-campus location. Sasha said administrators would not allow returning students onto school property when they came back to board buses or get into cars.
McElveen said detention would exceed the consequences described in the FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities guide. Under the SR&R, he said, joining a walkout should be treated as a Level 1 offense equivalent to cutting class.
“It’s very problematic that [these punishments] are being handled differently at every school,” McElveen said.
The restrictions stem from Regulation 2612, which was revised in August to require walkouts to take place before or after school and to let principals recommend alternative locations.
McElveen said the change occurred without his knowledge and, as far as he knew, without the school board’s awareness. He argued that banning walkouts during school hours conflicts with the purpose of Policy 2232.5.
McElveen helped advance that policy in 2019. It provides students with a one-day excused absence to participate in civic activities and became state law in 2021. The recent restrictions have raised questions about how FCPS will handle future student activism.
Junior Bayann Hamed, who helped organize previous walkouts at McLean, said demonstrations can bring attention to issues such as deportations, bombings and human rights violations.
“If schools truly care about preparing us to be engaged citizens, they should see our protests as part of that mission, not as something to crush,” Hamed said.