RUSD Board Faces Criticism Over Viral Video, Clause In New ICE-Related Policy

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.

Days later, the video posted by several Inland Empire-based social media accounts, showed a portion of an interaction between two middle school students holding up a Mexican flag and Sierra Middle School Principal Renell Robinson. 

“If you guys want to enact change, then do what I just told you guys to do,” Robinson told the two students at the beginning of the clip. “Go back, or it’s on you. Promotion, that’s on you. Eighth grade trip, that’s on you guys.”

Robinson then pulls out his phone, takes photos of the students and walks away for a few seconds. Before the video ends, Robinson is seen walking back toward the students.

RUSD said in a statement that a small group of about six students left the Sierra Middle school campus February 2 to protest nearby. They added that Robinson was not attempting to discourage the students from exercising their First Amendment rights, but was instead working to redirect them back to campus “to ensure their safety and supervision.” 

“Viewed without full context, the video may create the impression that the students are being discouraged from exercising their free speech rights,” the statement said. “While we understand why that perception exists, we want to assure families and students that the intention is the opposite.”

However, several community members disagreed with the district’s explanation. Some said they felt the middle school principal had violated the students’ First Amendment rights while others said they found Robinson’s comments threatening. 

Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective organizer Daniela Ramos told the board that she had received reports that students felt they were being retaliated against for protesting and that the district’s actions were making undocumented students feel unsafe.

“When students come to us with their fears of schools, it would be great if we could reassure them that their schools go above and beyond to ensure they feel safe and protected,” she told the board. “The district should put policies in place for students to safely protest, not tell them what to do, but allow their autonomy.”

In response to the comments, Superintendent Sonia Llamas and several trustees said they appreciated the community’s willingness to engage with them by speaking at the meeting. Many of the trustees added that they understood the fear and uncertainty created by the federal government’s immigration crackdown and how it empowered students to engage politically. 

Llamas also said that federal agents had not stepped on the Ramona High School campus a few weeks ago, adding that she has a responsibility to inform the community if federal immigration agents enter any of the district’s facilities. District employees also said at the meeting that there had not been any instance of federal agents on campuses to date. 

“District leadership has already met with a local community organization that works with our students and immigrant youth, alongside the principal,” Llamas said. “That meeting was constructive and reinforced the importance of continuing to work together around our shared commitment to students.”

However, the trustees added the district employees also have a responsibility for ensuring the safety of students during the school day. Trustee Amanda Vickers said that she felt the district could work to facilitate spaces on-campus where students could safely express themselves and host events that would encourage students to be more civically engaged.

“I know that the board is aware we cannot control federal issues, I’ve been told that before, but we can encourage them to write their federal legislatures,” Vickers said. “They can have their say, but do it in a safe environment, because our duty is that we can teach constitutional rights without abandoning supervision.”

At the same meeting, the board unanimously adopted new guidelines outlining the district’s policies regarding immigration enforcement operations, however some speakers felt the policy did not do enough to prevent agents from entering campuses. 

While the policy clearly stated that district staff should not grant access to federal agents conducting immigration enforcement without a valid judicial subpoena, judicial warrant or court order, it also stated that staff should not impede federal agents in the event they force their way into district spaces.

District staff said the template provided by the state included the language in order to instruct staff to explicitly tell federal agents they were not allowed on the premises, but to also not put themselves in harm’s way should an agent decide to force entry. “They are not welcome on our campus,” Trustee Brent Lee said. “But at the same time, we don’t want to put our staff in danger by impeding them should they do so lawfully and then definitely have a process in place to protect our staff if they decide to forgo their own laws and come on our campus without the proper documentation.”