High school students are getting involved in the anti-war movement, raising questions about how schools should discipline students whose activism disrupts classes. Local school principals may face that dilemma today, when some Bay Area teenagers are expected to join local college students in a nationwide anti-war walkout.

Many educators are thrilled to see young students show an interest in foreign affairs. But potential class walkouts bring up concerns as well. Schools can face liability issues if students leave campus, and in California and most other states school funding is linked to daily student attendance.

``At the end of the day, if the kids leave campus and five of them get in a car accident, it's the school's responsibility and not the anti-war organization that encouraged the walkout,'' said Michael Carr, a spokesman for the National Association of Secondary School Principals. ``There are other ways for students to demonstrate their feelings about the war then to walk out.''

The walkout today was organized by the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition, a network of student groups that came together after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The walkout has been publicized on numerous anti-war Web sites and e-mail lists, and Bay Area students are now spreading the word among their friends.

Rachelle Cruz, 17, a senior at Tennyson High School in Hayward, heard about the walkout at a Feb. 16 rally in San Francisco, and plans to participate. Cruz made copies of fliers about the walkout and is trying to contact students at Hayward's other high schools. ``We're worried that we might get suspended, but then all of these people could die in Iraq so we're trying to keep it in perspective.''

How schools handle student activism varies from district to district and school to school.

Nearly 50 Petaluma High School students who staged an anti-war walkout on Nov. 20 were suspended. But Sonoma County activists and many parents quickly blasted the school's punishment as too harsh, and after months of debate school officials removed the word ``suspension'' from the students' permanent records.

``We really have to take the middle path, and in a way our role is to make sure that the schools don't become too politicized,'' said Tom Joynt, an attendance supervisor for Petaluma City Schools. ``The response would be the same if a pro-life or white supremacy group was urging walkouts. The school has to be a safe place for all students, regardless of their political beliefs.''

But in Oakland, the district's teachers union is urging teachers and administrators not to discipline students who walk out. Some teachers met Tuesday to discuss the walkout plans at Oakland High School.

Although some parents have asked whether outside activists have distributed literature on school grounds, educators say that most students learn about anti-war events by surfing the Web.

Many studies show that teenagers and young adults are much more likely to use the Web than older age groups. ``If anti-war groups are trying to reach the young population, that's the way to do it,'' said Carr of NASSP.

At Notre Dame High School, an all-girls Catholic school in Belmont, nearly 300 students recently showed up for a voluntary teach-in about Iraq.

Notre Dame students who wanted to go to last month's anti-war rally in San Francisco could sign up as part of a school field trip, and about a dozen students went.

Parent Mimi Garrity Denman, whose daughter Carolyn is a senior, was impressed that the school chaperoned students to the rally. ``It was a safe environment, and my daughter learned that everyone in America has the right to be active and express their opinion,'' she said.

Not all Bay Area high school students who oppose war with Iraq plan to participate in today's walkout. Some Redwood City teenagers recently started a group called Operation SARJ: Students Against Reactionary Jingoism, and they plan to hand out anti-war information at the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo on Sunday. They have also worn black armbands in recent days to show their opposition to the war.

``It's actually pretty cool because almost every history and government teacher is totally cool with what we're doing,'' said senior Bill Lepe, a senior at Sequoia High School in Redwood City. ``Our administration is really tough on attendance policies, so we're not going to do a walkout. But we can pass out fliers and black armbands to whoever we want, and no one's ever said that we can't.''

Copyright 2003 San Jose Mercury News

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