Anti-ICE walkout exposes how school district 'failed' parents, risked student safety: 'Broken my trust'

By Fox News · Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: Internal emails, messages and memos from Arizona’s Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) reveal that staff allegedly breached security protocol and violated several school policies by facilitating a student walkout to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year, according to America First Legal. Hundreds of Flagstaff high school and middle school students walked out of class to protest ICE on Jan. 28. The protest came amid national controversy over the deaths of anti-ICE activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota . Immediately after the walkout, many parents, citing safety concerns, expressed outrage that they were not notified that their children had been allowed to leave school premises without their consent. One parent who said they had children under the age of 12 said the "district failed us as parents." Documents obtained by America First Legal, a conservative watchdog group, reveal that FUSD officials knew about the walkout days in advance and also coordinated with students. The documents, which were reviewed by Fox News Digital, were obtained by America First Legal through a lawsuit forcing FUSD to comply with its public records request for records related to the walkout. Screenshots from a district staff text group show faculty coordinating during the walkout. One staff member texted, "We have 75 plus students staged outside of fhs [Flagstaff High School] getting ready to walk." In the same message, the staff member wrote, "Looks like we have some members of the public joining." CONTROVERSIAL ICE TACTIC ACTUALLY REDUCES UNINTENDED 'COLLATERAL' ARRESTS: FEDERAL AGENT Another concerning text from a staff member read, "Be aware of propped open doors that are left for reentry." In response to America First Legal's criticism, a spokesperson for the district told Fox News Digital that "We respectfully disagree that the Flagstaff Unified School District encouraged students to attend or intentionally ignored Distri…