Here in Houston there is a curfew ordinance. That's what they're arresting them on.
You really think there's an 11am curfew in Los Angeles? Doesn't curfew mean "not be out after a certain time?"
I read that arrests and detainments were made with a variety of excuses, from truancy to disobeying an officer to disorderly conduct.
But what's that got to do with blocking school exits and threating tear gassing to whoever leaves??
I must apologize to you for my "do you really think that LA has an 11am curfew?" comment, and stand corrected.
Apparently, in LA, the "curfew" law is used to enforce what most of us would call "truancy" to arrest school-age kids between 8:30am - 1:30pm on school days.
Also, this curfew-truancy law applies even to 16 and 17 year olds who are enrolled in school - I was surprised to learn that. (It doesn't apply to those school-kids 18 and over, though).
my source was this leftist "students' right to walkout" information: http://www.nlg-la.org/student_rights.pdf
I did notice a cool Contitutional loophole that students could use to protect themselves from LA curfew laws - local curfew laws don't apply to students in motor vehicles engaged in intertate travel. All students have to do to avoid a curfew-truancy arrest in LA is to all jump in somebody's car, start the car and announce that they're all going for an interstate road trip. (They could say that they're going to Washington, DC, for example, to protest in person to the govt.)
Any truancy arrest would be thrown out (and the kids could even sue for false arrest), since the local cops can't interfere with interstate travel.