Latest news with #studentprotest
CBC
4 days ago
- General
- CBC
Students rally after Grade 9 enrolment at high school for special needs students halted
Scores of students at a Toronto high school that serves those with special needs walked out of classes on Monday to protest a school board decision to halt Grade 9 enrolment for the next school year. Heydon Park Secondary School is described on its website as the "only small student-centred public high school for young women, transgender and non-binary students" at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). At the walkout outside the school, located in the downtown core, students waved placards and chanted slogans, including: "Save our school!" Students said on Monday that the school offers a special place for girls and means everything to them. The TDSB, however, has decided that it will no longer accept admissions for Grade 9 for the 2025-2026 school year due to low enrolment. Jessica Rotolo, a graduate of the school, said she came to the walkout to call on the school board to reinstate Grade 9 enrolment. Rotolo said she has Down syndrome. "This particular school helped me become the person I am today. All the teachers were really accepting for who I am. All the students were accepting, except for a couple," she said. "I hope we will keep Heydon Park alive." Dorlean Rotolo, her mother, said the family came to the school's open house when her daughter was in Grade 6 and it was the only high school in which they were interested. "This high school offered Jessica a true high school experience," she said. "The care that they get from the teachers is beyond remarkable. This school is 101 years old. It works. It should be cloned." Rotolo said the TDSB cancelled the school's Grade 8 open house and said few know about the school because it hasn't been promoted. She questioned who at the TDSB made the decision and wondered if the person actually went to the school to see "magic" that happens there. "It's heartbreaking," she added. Phoebe Ross, a Grade 10 student at the school, said she has a bit of learning disability and the school has made a difference in her life. "I don't want the school to close. It's a school where people with disabilities and needs ... come here to get help and to learn," Ross said. "The school helps me learn. And I love this school." Only 9 students applied to Grade 9 this fall, TDSB says The TDSB said in a statement on Friday that enrolment at the school has been dropping. It said only nine students applied for the Grade 9 program for the 2025–26 school year, and it made a decision to halt enrolment to ensure students had access to a "viable" program. "Enrolment at Heydon Park Secondary School has declined over the years, largely due to the fact that our neighbourhood schools are getting better and better at inclusionary practices and supporting a wider range of student needs," the TDSB said in the statement. "Central board staff have been carefully monitoring Grade 9 enrolment at Heydon Park, and due to limited enrolment in the Grade 9 program for the 2025–26 school year, the decision has been made to redirect incoming Grade 9 students to alternate school sites." Several parents told CBC Toronto that their children wouldn't have thrived in a regular school, but they could at Heydon Park.
Al Jazeera
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can remain in custody amid green card dispute
A United States federal judge has allowed the administration of President Donald Trump to keep student protester Mahmoud Khalil in custody based on allegations of immigration fraud. On Friday, Judge Michael Farbiarz of Newark, New Jersey, ruled that Khalil's legal team had not adequately shown why his detention on the charge would be unlawful. It was a major setback for Khalil, who had been a negotiator for the student protesters at Columbia University demonstrating against Israel's war on Gaza. He was the first high-profile protester to be arrested under Trump's campaign to expel foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian advocacy. Just this week, Farbiarz appeared poised to order Khalil's release, on the basis that his detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 was unconstitutional. That law stipulates that the secretary of state – in this case, Marco Rubio – has the power to remove foreign nationals who have 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States'. But Farbiarz ruled that Rubio's use of the law violated Khalil's freedom of speech. Still, the Trump administration filed additional court papers saying it had another reason for wanting to deport Khalil. It alleged that Khalil, a permanent US resident, had omitted information from his green-card application that would have otherwise disqualified him from gaining residency. The Trump administration has long accused Khalil of supporting terrorism through his protest-related activities, something the former graduate student has vehemently denied. In the case of his green-card application, it argues that Khalil failed to disclose his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), a humanitarian organisation. Politicians in Israel and the US have accused UNRWA of ties to the armed group Hamas, an allegation reportedly made without evidence. Khalil, however, has denied he was ever an 'officer' in UNRWA, as alleged. Instead, his legal team points out that he completed a United Nations internship through Columbia University. The Trump administration also argues that Khalil did not accurately identify the length of his employment with the Syria Office of the British Embassy in Beirut. Khalil and his legal team, meanwhile, say he accurately identified his departure date from the job as December 2022. Judge Farbiarz had set Friday morning as a deadline for the Trump administration to appeal Khalil's release on bail. But that deadline was extended to give the government more time to challenge Khalil's release. Ultimately, Farbiarz allowed the Trump administration to continue its detention of Khalil. He advised Khalil's lawyers to seek release on bail from the immigration court where his deportation trial is being held in Louisiana. Farbiarz had been weighing a separate habeas corpus petition from the Khalil team that called into question the constitutionality of his continued detention. Marc Van Der Hout, a lawyer for Khalil, told the Reuters news agency that immigration fraud charges are exceedingly rare, and the Trump administration's use of such charges was simply a political manoeuvre to keep Khalil in lock-up. 'Detaining someone on a charge like this is highly unusual and frankly outrageous,' said Van Der Hout. 'There continues to be no constitutional basis for his detention.' Another lawyer representing Khalil, Amy Greer, described the new allegations against his green-card application as part of the government's 'cruel, transparent delay tactics'. She noted that Khalil, a new father whose child was born in April, would miss his first Father's Day, which falls this Sunday in the US. 'Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians,' Greer said in a statement. 'It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.'
Washington Post
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Students at Maryland high school to protest classmate's deportation
Dozens of students at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring — Maryland's largest high school by enrollment — are expected to walk out Thursday to show support for a classmate who they say was recently deported to Guatemala. The student was not detained on school grounds, according to a letter sent to Blair families from administrators ahead of the demonstration. Organizers of the protest say the student who was deported was a junior at Blair, though multiple people declined to share the student's name or specifics of the situation because of privacy concerns.
BBC News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Jewish faculty opposes University of Oxford Gaza protest proceedings
A "concerned" university Jewish faculty has urged for the dropping of disciplinary proceedings against 13 students involved in a pro-Palestinian 23 May 2024, the group of Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) campaigners occupied University of Oxford building on Wellington Square, demanding a meeting over its policies relating to the Gaza an open letter, faculty and staff members said the university "adopted a needlessly hostile" stance toward its own students, whose disciplinary procedures commenced on university said the process was "confidential" and declined to comment further. The letter is addressed to Prof Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor of the university, as well as to the Proctors and Chief Diversity Office Tim it, the group describe the university's response to the sit-in "heavy-handed" and its follow-up statement "ill-advised" that "smeared participants with unfounded accusations of violence".It added the statement's allegation "that the Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) encampment had created a 'deeply intimidating environment' for 'our Jewish students and staff' continues to surface". "...there is no credible evidence that the encampment, in which Jewish students were also actively involved, led to a rise in antisemitism or that it was experienced in a uniform way by Oxford's highly diverse Jewish community," the letter reads."We therefore call on the University to put the record straight, lest supposed threats to Jewish safety be used, as they have been elsewhere, to demonize the movement for Palestinian rights and to criminalize lawful protest and expression."The group said the students involved "have already suffered extensive harm" from the response, including "rough treatment by police" and "bail conditions restricting on-course students' access to University buildings" for several months."In short, the University seems to have pre-judged the case and adopted a needlessly hostile, punitive, and adversarial stance toward its own students," it also urged it: "to sever the University's financial and institutional entanglements with Israel".The letter has been signed by university professionals across various disciplines including art, science and Abbott MP previously also voiced her support for the campaigners.A spokesperson at the University of Oxford said: "The student disciplinary process is confidential and the University will not comment on ongoing procedures or their outcome." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Students calls for answers on why Rio Rancho HS band directors were reassigned
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) – Students and parents want answers as to why two beloved band directors at Rio Rancho High School are being reassigned to different schools within the district. Matthew Casarez has been with Rio Rancho High School for 15 years, and Alexander Austell has been with the district since 2016. Students rallied against the decision with a petition that has already received over 300 signatures. Rio Rancho High baseball player accused of urinating in water jug no longer faces charges RRHS Principal Millan Baca sent a letter to students and parents three days ago, saying they will not be returning to their positions, effective immediately. The district it is is a personnel issue, and is limited in what they can disclose. A spokesperson for Rio Rancho Public School said Casarez has since resigned. Thursday night, there was a closed meeting for parents discussing the recent move. Dear RRHS Band Community, As you may have heard, there has been a shift in the Rams Band Program. Mr. Casarez and Mr. Austell will not be returning to their positions at Rio Rancho High School, effective immediately. As this is a personnel issue, we are limited in what we are allowed to disclose, but please know that our main concern is the students of the Rio Rancho High School Band Program and how we will move forward through the summer and into the school year to give them the best experience possible. The administration of RRHS and the RRPS Fine Arts Department will be holding meetings with key constituencies of the band program over the next few days to assess the status of events such as the materials distribution this week, the Color Guard Camp in July, and the DCI Show on July 15. Our intent is to move forward with these events as planned, but we need to speak to the many people involved. The biggest event of this summer is Marching Band Camp, scheduled for July 21–August 1. Marching Band Camp will take place as planned. There will also be a general parent meeting this Thursday, June 5, at 6:00 PM in the RRHS Band Room. This is a change from the previously announced June 2 meeting. We encourage you to attend this meeting. Rio Rancho Public Schools has always been committed to the highest standards of excellence and achievement in the fine arts, and its devotion to the RRHS Band Program remains firm. The administration of RRHS and the RRPS Fine Arts Department are prepared to do whatever is necessary to support the band program as we move forward. However, please know that the support of the parents and guardians of these young musicians is vital to the RRHS band community. Only together can we ensure the continuity of great musical experiences for our students. We plan to communicate regularly with you throughout the next few months. We appreciate your patience as we move through this process. There will be a follow-up email later this evening with more information regarding the materials distribution scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please be sure to check your inboxes. Mr. Millan Baca, Principal, RRHS and Dr. Kurt Schmidt Executive Director of Fine Arts, RRPS Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
