Students protest postponed assembly

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A last-minute postponement of a student-organized assembly at Santa Barbara High School rankled students and led them to hold a lengthy sit-in Thursday morning in protest of the decision.
Several student groups on campus planned to bring in representatives of the local chapter of Veterans for Peace on Thursday for a screening of Arlington West followed by a discussion with the film’s producers and the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Leaders with Students for Democratic Society and Dons for Real Change said administrators pulled the event on Tuesday and offered up poor reasons for doing so, including that the film was too biased and political.
Principal Dr. Mark Capritto said a miscommunication between students and another administrator led to the outcry and that the decision to postpone the event resulted from complaints by teachers about losing class time.
Geoffrey Parker, a senior and one of the lead organizers of the event, described how students planned the assembly for more than two months and had taken the appropriate steps to receive approval from the administration.
Then, on Tuesday, he said an assistant principal came into his classroom and said the screening had been cancelled.
“I was completely shocked,” Parker said. “Just a few days before it had been completely acceptable.”
He said the administrator argued that the film was too biased to be shown in a school setting. Parker countered by pointing out that military recruiters are constantly on campus talking to students.
“Another excuse was that it was too political,” he said. “A school is built to teach, to prepare children for the outside world. Without political information, how are we expected to vote?”
After being informed of the cancellation, Parker and others organized a petition and a sit-in protest, which drew approximately 100 students who planted themselves in the main hallway of the school for four hours holding signs reading “Let Them Speak of Peace” and “Learning is a Right.”
Dr. Capritto said he met with a group of students, including Parker, and clarified a few issues.
“It wasn’t cancelled,” he said. “It was postponed based on an agreement that didn’t get through to the kids.”
When the concept of holding the assembly came to him, Dr. Capritto said he approved it under the condition that it be optional and that if any complaints were made, it would be moved to the lunch period or after school.
“We’re at a very precarious time of year when kids need to be in classes,” he said. “…This is the end of the school year and we have a responsibility to our students.”
He said worries arose that students would not recognize the optional aspect of the assembly and pressure their teachers to let them attend. Following complaints about lost class time, he said the decision was made to hold off on the screening.
Dr. Capritto added that any consideration of the political nature of the film — which explores the display of crosses representing soldiers killed in Iraq on beaches around the country, including the original display in Santa Barbara — did not enter into the decision to postpone the event.
“I can certainly understand their disappointment based on the information they received from one of the assistant principals,” he said.
Parker dismissed the argument that students would lose class time, emphasizing the authority of teachers to decide whether or not their students would attend the event.
“It was completely controlled by the teachers,” he said. “…We had ways so that teachers could allow some students to go and others not to go.”
Others, including Mary Johnston-de Leon, treasurer of the local chapter of Veterans for Peace, said holding the event during lunch is not a feasible solution. With only 40 minutes for lunch, she argued, kids won’t give up their lunch period to watch a 32-minute film.
While she plans to leave any future action, such as more sit-ins or protests, up to the students, Johnston-de Leon said she plans to write a letter to administrators letting her feelings be known.
“Without barely any warning, they pulled the plug on us,” she said. “…I personally don’t think it was warranted.”
Peter Dudar and Sally Marr, the producers of Arlington West, said they turned down gigs with three other schools to make the drive from Los Angeles, screen the film and participate in the discussion.
Both said they were stunned to learn the event had been cancelled, describing the many trips they’ve taken to screen the film since it came out three years ago for audiences that have ranged from sixth-graders to doctorate students.
“We’ve never had a situation like this before,” Marr said. “It just doesn’t seem very fair, to really anybody.”
She said the focus of the film is not to be political or critical, but merely to show the emotional impact of war.
“Our most important objective is to get our kids to acknowledge our fallen … and to get them to care for the veterans when they return,” Dudar said. “…The kids feel so far away from this war, generally. They really need to understand.”
Both said a similar assembly and screening at the high school last year drew in hundreds, so many that they had to turn away 200 students.
Dr. Capritto, while reiterating that the politics of the film didn’t enter into his decision, said he should have examined the content more closely from the beginning.
“We need to really look into this and decide whether or not Santa Barbara High School, during school time, is the most appropriate forum for this film,” he said.
The incident also gives the school the opportunity to examine its role as a learning institution as a whole, Dr. Capritto said.
“It really is incumbent upon us to be doing what we are supposed to be doing,” he said.
While acknowledging that the film is of an educational nature, he said it’s “clear that it is taking away from what we are already doing.”
For now, Parker said he merely wants to facilitate further discussion about the situation. He recently sent out messages to other students asking them how they want to proceed. Future sit-ins and protests are a possibility, he said.
“I think this is really important information,” Parker said of the film. “Even if I don’t get to hear it, I think it’s important for other people to hear.”
Those who participated in the sit-in received truancy notices, he said. Otherwise, the protest went off peacefully and without a hitch.