Baltimore County students plan more walkouts. Schools say there will be consequences.

Students from 30 schools in five Maryland districts plan to walk out of class Friday in protest of actions by President Donald Trump’s administration.

In Baltimore County, district leaders warn, those students will face consequences.

The demonstrations, planned for Friday at 11 a.m., mark the second time in two months students across the region organized school-day protests they say are within their First Amendment rights. On Feb. 6, students at several Baltimore County and City high schools protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s growing presence in their communities.

The participation is “a testament to the anger and the frustration that students are feeling with the current administration. It’s showing that people, students in particular, are ready to stand up and speak out,” said Ben Kasofsky, 17, a Towson High School senior organizing the intraschool effort through Instagram and Discord, a group chat app.

He and other student organizers have researched school rules, county policies and constitutional law related to protesting, Kasofsky said. A post on the @mdwalkout Instagram account students are using to organize the protests lists rules for each district.

Last month, county school officials warned students not to violate rules in the student handbook. A 16-year-old Carver Center student was arrested for “disruptive and dangerous” behavior. The principal said the student left campus and obstructed traffic.

This time, Baltimore County school leaders are discouraging students from participating in the walkouts.

School officials sent a message to families Wednesday encouraging parents to tell their kids that “disruptive behaviors will not be tolerated.” Officials stated that protests during school hours disrupt teaching, learning and school operations. The school system does not support Friday’s demonstrations, they wrote.

“We strongly encourage our students to explore alternate methods for voicing their opinions on topics that are important to them,” it read. “Students who violate the Code of Conduct and disrupt instruction and school operations will receive consequences.”

Sam LaBuff, 17, a senior at Towson High, said school officials were initially “hesitant but very open to the idea” of a walkout. The tone had shifted by Wednesday.

Principal Kimberly Culbertson rejected his plan, he said. She suggested holding the protest before classes or after school. Protesters can gather in the gym or auditorium, but no one can walk out of class or leave the building, he said.

When he asked what would happen if students disobeyed, “she opened the school handbook and pointed to several policies,” LaBuff said.

Students will hold a 30-minute rally at 10 a.m. just outside the school building but on school grounds. He said remaining on campus was the best way to accommodate school safety and concern for administrators.

Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said, although protesting is protected by the First Amendment, it doesn’t give someone the right to break rules that regulate activity. For example, painting a mural can be a form of protest, but artists can’t paint walls they don’t own.

“So if a school has a viewpoint-neutral rule that says you can’t walk out of class, and most schools do, they can enforce that rule when you walk out of class,” the vice president of strategic initiatives said.

Gboyinde Onijala, spokesperson for the school system, said in an email that school system policy allows administrators to set reasonable limits “regarding the time, place, and manner in which students and student groups may assemble.” Violators of those limits will face consequences.

The student handbook states, “refusing to cooperate with school rules and/or regulations” is considered a Category I offense. Those consequences can result in a suspension or expulsion.

Bob Mosier, a spokesperson for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, said the school system is not encouraging students to leave class Friday. School officials are working with student leaders to ensure safety and freedom of expression. However, students will be disciplined if they do not abide by school rules, including leaving campus.

When Baltimore City students protested ICE last month, school officials established designated spaces for the students who walked out of class and organized police escorts when they left campus.

Kasofsky said he and fellow organizers didn’t initially think about consequences, either from school officials or counterprotesters, at the start of the planning process until they reached out to Sunrise DC, a grassroots group of young activists.

The feedback led the organizers to tell students at each school to create a route for their walkout, whether it’s on or off school grounds, but not to release the route until the day of the protest or the night before. Hopefully, that prevents counterprotesters from blocking their paths, Kasofsky said.

He said students who are planning to leave school grounds were instructed to contact their local governments to get protesting permits.

Students will walk out at seven Baltimore County high schools, Kasofsky said:

• Carver Center for Arts and Technology
• Catonsville
• Dundalk
• Eastern Technical
• Patapsco
• Towson
• Western School of Technology and Environment Science

Those who are uncomfortable with facing consequences shouldn’t participate, Kasofsky said. Those who have their parents’ support and know why they are fighting are more willing to face severe consequences, he added.

“This isn’t something that we want to pressure you into,” he said. “We want you to be individually motivated and have your own reasons for being there.”

The warnings haven’t deterred the protesters from completing their mission.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, Kasofsky said, students in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Carroll, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties planned to participate.

Kasofsky said Friday’s protest is only the beginning. The goal is to find new ways to get students civically engaged, he said.

“We’re cultivating a community of student leaders, student activists and people who want to be engaged with the problems affecting them,” Kasofsky said. “Because they’re going to be the people making the decision in the future.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.