Over a hundred students from at least two Richmond high schools walked out of class on Wednesday and marched to the school district’s office to protest millions of dollars in budget cuts.
The action came just a day after students at John F. Kennedy High School walked out, calling on the West Contra Costa Unified School District to halt $13 million in cuts over the next two years.
“Honestly, we’re fighting for the future,” Julissa Blandon, a senior at Kennedy High, told KQED. “I’m going to be leaving, and I’m going to see all my fellow lowerclassmen suffer. That just doesn’t stand with me.”
The West Contra Costa school board voted last month to move forward with cuts to over 150 positions as part of its multi-year plan to maintain local control of its finances. The vote saved eight positions but left the district in further fiscal uncertainty, requiring more than $1 million in alternative cuts, interim Superintendent Kim Moses said in a Feb. 27 statement.
On Wednesday, students from Kennedy and Richmond High schools marched over two miles in the rain from Kennedy on Cutting Boulevard to district offices on Bissell Avenue, receiving honks of approval from passing cars and drawing residents out of their homes. Students and former Richmond City Councilmember Melvin Willis led chants while some held signs saying “Our Education Matters.”
Cuts would be especially harmful to Kennedy, Blandon said. The school is over 90% students of color, and many have low income, according to state data. She said the cuts would eliminate almost 20 teachers from the school’s college and career pathways.
Union officials have also said the reductions, which have already resulted in $19 million being cut for this school year, are unnecessary and “a direct attack on our classrooms, our educators, and our students’ future.”
The United Teachers of Richmond, which represents educators throughout the district, said last month during a Richmond City Council meeting that WCCUSD was “stockpiling reserves” instead of funding schools. Moses said at a Feb. 5 meeting on UTR’s reserves comments that their numbers were “not an accuracy in our reality.”
In a Wednesday statement, the district said it was aware of the walkout and respects students’ right to express themselves and issues they care about.
“However, our top priority is ensuring their safety,” the statement said. “This walkout is not a school-sponsored event, and we have encouraged students to remain on campus, where we have provided safe spaces for discussion. We urge students to engage in peaceful and safe forms of expressions that do not put themselves or others at risk.”
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