Thousands of Sonoma County students walk out of classes to protest campus violence

Following campus demonstrations calling for improved safety across Sonoma County Wednesday afternoon, students and community members are reconvening at Old Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa for an afternoon rally.

Students will hold a moment of silence in honor of Jayden Pienta, a 16-year-old Montgomery High School junior, who was fatally stabbed March 1 during an altercation on campus. Students from Montgomery, as well as student leaders from other Santa Rosa schools are expected to address the crowd.

Demonstrators will then march to Santa Rosa City Hall, 100 Santa Rosa Ave., where the Santa Rosa City Schools board will meet at 6 p.m. in the council chambers.

Santa Rosa police officers provided security and blocked traffic as students and community members walked to the meeting.

The board meeting is expected to draw public comments from students, parents and teachers though there are no items on the agenda related to the fatal March 1 fight or campus violence.

Elected trustees will consider bathroom renovations at Montgomery and Ridgway high schools, as well as the issuance of bonds to help pay for capital projects, among other regular business.

Montgomery students have raised concerns about aging infrastructure at the campus, including sewage system problems.

The meeting will be preceded by a closed-door session at 4 p.m. where trustees will meet with the district’s legal counsel to discuss several items, including anticipated litigation.

The board called an emergency meeting the day after Pienta’s death to discuss a possible lawsuit though district officials have not said whether the district has been notified it will be sued over the stabbing.

Check back here for live updates from Press Democrat reporters in the field.

Here is the latest on the demonstrations:

5:30 p.m.: Students and community members have filled the council chamber’s 187 seats and Santa Rosa firefighters said they won’t allow people to stand inside the room.

A student announced to those remaining outside that the chamber was at capacity. They planned to remain in the courtyard and speakers would rotate in and out of the chambers during public comment.

5:20 p.m.: Jon Schwan, Montgomery High soccer coach, stood and watched the rally outside City Hall. His oldest daughter is a senior at Montgomery; his younger is an eighth grader at Slater Middle School, the feeder school for Montgomery.

"It hit our family on multiple levels," he said of the deadly altercation inside the high school on March 1.

He said adults will soon have to take a more active role in also calling for change.

“I still think right now we're in the supporting phase, but this isn't going to change until the parents speak up,” he said.

“We as parents have to do a better job, one, at home, and two, of electing these people (on the school board) because it's their policies. We have to hold these people to account.”

5:15 p.m. The crowd is starting to make its way to the school board meeting at the Santa Rosa City Council Hall with students chanting in unison that they want change.

Officers on motorcycles stopped traffic at Santa Rosa Avenue and First Street so students could cross over to the city complex. A pair of adults stood along the street with a sign that said “We hear you.”

4:50 p.m.: Montgomery High School senior Joey Bowser, a member of the school’s student government, started the rally with a moment of silence.

“Jayden died at our school the other day and that was really real. That's why we're going to do this moment of silence.”

4:45 p.m.: About 75 to 100 students have gathered at Old Courthouse Square ahead of the rally.

One of those students, Mae Pickering, 16, a sophomore at Credo High School, said mental health services in schools needed to be bolstered.

“We're high school kids, we all have issues," she said. “Part of these problems is we're not getting the help they need.”

Nick George, 16, a Montgomery junior, sat with a sign that said: "His blood is on your hands,“ referring to Pienta.

Speaking of school administrators and the school board, George said: “ hope that they understand and do something now. If that doesn't happen I'd like to think that we won't give up and we'll continue to fight for what is right.”

Other students held signs that said “safe space or no space,” “a death should not be a wake up call” and “end school violence.”

2:15 p.m.: On-campus demonstrations across Sonoma County have wrapped up ahead of another rally this afternoon at Old Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa that is expected to draw a large crowd of students and community members.

Dozens of students had already begun to gather there as of 2 p.m.

1:25 p.m.: Students from Credo and Technology high schools have arrived at La Plaza Park where student leaders and organizers are giving speeches.

“Today we march in demand of school safety. We march not only for Jayden Pienta who was murdered last week but for all victims of school violence,“ one speaker said. “School is supposed to be a safe place for students but the reality is it’s not.”

The student said students face emotional and physical abuse on campus daily and incidents go ignored by school officials until incidents escalate.

“I am done sitting here and watching nothing be done until our friends and family members are dead,” the student said to a cheering crowd.

1:15 p.m.: Montgomery High School sophomore Jakson Hals, 15, said it was his first time participating in a youth rally for school safety as he made his way back to the Montgomery campus.

Hals said he joined Wednesday’s demonstration to show support for Pienta’s memory.

"I'd like the school to do better and the staff to do their jobs," he said. "They should be there for the students if they're having a hard time."

1 p.m.: Credo High School students are heading to La Plaza Park in Cotati to join Technology High School students. The group is calling for school safety.

12:50 p.m.: Montgomery High School students are returning to campus after walking their middle school peers back to Slater.

Santa Rosa High School students were also returning to campus after a short demonstration on the steps of the district office.

12:40 p.m.: About 200 Credo High School students are making their way to Oliver’s Market in Cotati chanting and holding signs.

12:35 p.m.: Student Jimena Suarez said her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico to give her a better life and now she has to worry about being safe in school.

“We have to worry about our lives,” she said. “We should be worrying about school.”

Students are calling for additional restorative justice programs on campus rather increased police presence.

12:30 p.m.: Santa Rosa High School students have arrived at the district office and have gathered outside the front door.

“We have demands. This is not baseless. We want change,” one student said.

12:25 p.m.: Students have left campus and are walking along Ridgway Avenue now chanting “we’re just kids.”

Students are holding signs saying: “No more bandaid solutions,” “lockdown should not feel normal,” “we’re skipping our lessons to teach you 1.”

Cars are honking in support as they drive by.

12:20 p.m.: Achacon told his peers he no longer wanted to be afraid in school.

"School should not be a place of danger. Barely a few months into my freshman year our school was placed on another lockdown due to a shooting at Ridgway. For two hours we sat in silence on the ground, no knowledge of what was going on. This year alone, we've experienced multiple shelter in places and that is just our school."

And he said this is not unique but common across schools in Sonoma County and nationally.

"This isn't an isolated issue. It's a systemic issue," he said. "None of this is OK."

He said he wants more campus supervisors, better communication from school and better evacuation policies.

12:15 p.m.: Hundreds of Santa Rosa High School students gathered just after noon by the “senior steps,” an area in between the auditorium and the main building on campus.

Student Andre Achacon spoke to his peers before they began marching through the halls of the school.

The students are expected to march down Ridgway Avenue toward the Santa Rosa City Schools District Office.

11:55 a.m.: Slater students are beginning to arrive at Montgomery High School.

11:50 a.m.: Sarah, a parent of two eighth graders who asked that her last name not be used, said she was encouraged by the number of students who joined the walk out.

“I’m really happy to see how many kids are participating,” she said, adding that one of her children is participating and the other isn’t and she respected their decisions.

She said she had never seen a local youth movement of this size calling for safer schools.

11:45 a.m.: Students from Slater Middle School, many wearing white, are marching along Sonoma Avenue from campus to Montgomery High School where they are expected to join high schoolers there during an on-campus demonstration. They are being escorted by parents and school staff.

The middle school students are planning to listen to speakers before returning to Slater accompanied by Montgomery students.

Read the original story below:

Thousands of Sonoma County high school and middle school students are expected to walk out of classes and hold campus demonstrations Wednesday calling for improved campus safety.

Additional rallies are planned in downtown Santa Rosa later in the day ahead of the Santa Rosa City Schools board meeting which is expected to draw additional public comments following a Tuesday night listening session.

The demonstrations could be one of the largest collective student protests Sonoma County has seen in a decade since the 2013 death of 13-year-old Andy Lopez who was killed by a Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

The various events come a week after Jayden Pienta, a 16-year-old Montgomery High School junior, died following an altercation with another student on campus on March 1. That student, identified in open juvenile court proceedings and records as Daniel Jesus Pulido, 15, was charged Monday with voluntary manslaughter and weapons offenses.

On Tuesday, more than 800 students, parents and teachers flooded the Friedman Event Center down the road from the Montgomery campus pleading with district officials to create a safer school environment and more transparency during emergencies.

Students at Petaluma and Casa Grande high schools in Petaluma are set to hold a “walk in“ at 11:50 a.m. The students will not be leaving campus.

Students at several Santa Rosa schools, including Montgomery High School and Santa Rosa High School, and in neighboring school districts are expected to hold campus protests beginning at noon.

They will gather at Old Courthouse Square at 4:45 p.m. and march to the Santa Rosa City Council Chambers where the school board will meet at 6 p.m.

Students are calling for improved safety, improved response from school and district administrators, more counseling and mental health support and additional violence prevention programs.

“We need the Santa Rosa City Schools District Board of Education and other local districts to enact policies which create safe school environments,” according to social media posts from protest organizers. “We need more campus supervisors, effective resources, and proper allocation of funds to support our peers.”

Staff writers Martin Espinoza, Madison Smalstig, Mya Constantino and Jeremy Hay contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.