A week after a video posted online showed a principal confronting two student protesters, more than a dozen community members demanded the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Board of Education take action to better protect the free speech rights of students and create stronger immigration enforcement policies.
“As educators, we are called to support our students and give them wings to make change in their communities,” Daniel Calderon, an RUSD employee, told the board at the February 12 meeting. “RUSD right now is actively cutting those wings and discouraging the wings of tomorrow.”
In the final days of January, students across Riverside staged walkouts as part of the national day of protest over immigration raids. Social media posts showed students from Riverside Polytechnic High School and Ramona High School taking to the streets. The protests came days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) watch groups reported spotting federal agents near Ramona High School…