"They're noisy but well-behaved," said LAPD Chief William J. Bratton as he walked through the downtown crowd. "Let them have their say."
In a district with about 358,000 middle and high school students, an estimated 26,000 walked out of more than 50 Los Angeles Unified campuses. Teachers, principals and school police urged students to demonstrate on campus, but students flooded through gates and onto city streets and sidewalks.
"It's very disruptive," said Ellen Morgan, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District. "We want them to express their opinions, but there are venues, there are forums for them to do so. We'd like them to stay in school and get an education."
Not only did the mostly high school students miss class time, administrators said, but the district could lose money if students did not show up. And with postings on myspace.com promoting more walkouts today, principals were doing whatever they could to encourage students to stay on school grounds.
All L.A. Unified middle and high schools will be on lockdown today, which means no one will be allowed to leave school once they enter, officials said. The district plans more stringent measures this morning, prohibiting students from going from class to class as usual.
Teachers are planning lessons on the immigration issue, and administrators are setting aside spots on campus for rallies and sit-ins. Some school officials plan to punish students who left campus with enforced attendance at Saturday school.
In Los Angeles, principals sent notes home that urged parents to tell their children to stay on campus and warned of disciplinary action for those who did not.
On Monday, some principals locked down their campuses in an attempt to prevent students from leaving school grounds. Nevertheless, students from at least one campus climbed over a fence to leave.
Lucy Delgadillo, whose children attend South East High School in South Gate, said she knows that lockdowns promote school safety.
"There are some kids who don't know what the protest is about," she said. "But there are kids who understand and feel strongly about this, and I think they should be allowed to protest."
At some campuses where students did walk out, staff members marched alongside the youths to ensure their safety, officials said. In addition, Los Angeles school administrators dispatched about 30 buses to City Hall and other locations to ferry students back to their campuses in the afternoon.
