Schools brace for walkouts [Protest Marches]

The Arizona Daily Star ^ | 04.08.2006 | Daniel Scarpinato

[Borax Queen]

Plans made for teacher absences during big immigration protests - An entire school will relocate for a day and classes at other campuses may be combined Monday to cope with teachers calling in sick, school officials said Friday as they prepared for large-scale protests against immigration reform.

And as the immigration debate showed no signs of leaving their doorstep, officials in the city's largest school district addressed concerns about a speech given Monday at Tucson High Magnet School in which a speaker said, "Republicans hate Latinos."

Tucson Unified School District officials are taking their hardest stance against the walkouts to this point. Safford Magnet School, 200 E. 13th St., will be shut down because it is near Armory Park, the protesters' destination, Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer said at a press conference Friday. Students in grades K-5 will attend class at Carrillo Magnet School, 440 S. Main Ave., and those in grades 6-8 will go to Rincon High School, 421 N. Arcadia Blvd., where some will be taking the AIMS test.

And unlike last week, when thousands of students marched Downtown and schools sent buses to return them to school, TUSD and Amphitheater Public Schools have said they will not do that this time. However, TUSD officials said students can return to school on their own and be accepted back.

A new development is the potential that teachers may join the marches. Roughly 450 teachers, of 3,700 TUSD-wide, have requested the day off.

Pfeuffer said the district has found substitutes for 90 percent of those teachers, but in some cases students may have to share teachers. While the numbers requesting days off in TUSD and Sunnyside Unified School District aren't much larger than on an average Monday, both districts are bracing for additional teachers calling in sick.

At TUSD's press conference, Pfeuffer also answered questions on comments made Monday at Tucson High by labor activist Dolores Huerta, in which she said she wanted to start a postcard campaign with the theme "Republicans hate Latinos." During the speech, she also congratulated students for walking out earlier and advertised Monday as the big day for walkouts, a stark contrast to TUSD's message not to ditch.

"This is an issue that has many, many viewpoints," Pfeuffer said. "It is not our responsibility to advocate for any one viewpoint or to necessarily censor any one viewpoint. Our purpose and our commitment when these things began was to create forums for students to discuss this issue and information for them to use in those discussions. This was one of those things we provided."

But the comments have TUSD preparing a response to state Rep. Jonathan Paton, a Republican, who wrote a letter questioning the speech, Pfeuffer said. Paton's office said he was traveling Friday afternoon, and he did not immediately return phone calls from the Star.

The incident is just the latest to occur since the national immigration issue landed in the laps of school officials, who have struggled to not take sides.

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, a Republican, said he would like to see the district invite someone with an opposing view, such as his deputy superintendent, Margaret Garcia-Dugan.

"She would talk about why Republicans are the best party for Latinos," he said. "I'm a Republican. And, by far, the strongest support for me in my last statewide election were parents of Latino students who wanted their children to learn English."

But TUSD officials, including those who attended the speech, said Huerta's message was educational, not political, and her comments about Republicans are being taken out of context.

"I think it's crucial to pass the message to all the students to educate themselves and others on the substance of each legislative proposal," said TUSD governing board member Alex Rodriguez, who had heard a recording of the speech. "At least having listened to the comments, I think that was one of the clear messages that came out — learn facts, learn the proposals and you are better off for having done so."

Still, officials said the incident shouldn't overshadow efforts they've made to objectively present a political hot potato. Pfeuffer said Huerta's speech was scheduled long before the walkouts started.

Now, the district's efforts focus on keeping operations running smoothly Monday, with stricter plans in place to deal with potential walkouts.

Students who leave campus will have an unexcused absence, which could result in missing out on graduating. Students cannot make up work if they miss class. And parents have again been urged to tell their children to stay in school. To what extent parents will do that remains to be seen.

Tucson High parents Dennis and Vanessa Garrison — who admit they aren't passionate on the issue one way or another — say they don't mind if their son Greg, a freshman, walks out as he did last week.

"I would like him to know why he's walking and not just because he wants to get out of school," said Vanessa, 50 and a TUSD employee.

Husband Dennis, a partner at a local manufacturing firm, said of the marches: "Yes, it's disruptive to the school system. But if they strongly believe in their issue," he won't oppose it.

To learn more -

To hear the TUSD superintendent present his plans to deal with possible walkouts, go to www.tusd.k12.az.us and click on "News Conference."

[Riverman94610]

Yep,very little in between!