EL CAJON EL CAJON — Police detained and later released four Grossmont High School students Monday afternoon after a student protest over the school’s dress code turned disruptive, officials said.
Campus staff requested help from the El Cajon Police Department after the lunchtime protest “escalated,” with apples and water bottles being thrown “into the crowd,” and some students refusing to return to class, a school district spokesperson said.
Officers helped campus staff initiate a “secure campus,” a type of lockdown, according to Grossmont Union High School District spokesperson Collin McGlashen.
“To calm the situation and keep students safe, a ‘secure campus’ was called, and a law enforcement response was required,” McGlashen tweeted at 12:40 p.m. “Law enforcement remains on campus to ensure an orderly return to class so the school day can continue.”
McGlashen tweeted at 3 p.m. that the demonstration ended and the school day continued after discussions between high school staff and leaders of the protest.
“(Four) students were detained — for the safety of themselves and others — and released,” McGlashen tweeted. “Students are safe. Law enforcement remained on campus out of an abundance of caution as the school day continued.”
Images posted on Twitter showed one person on a gurney and a student jumping onto white cloth that apparently had been used as a banner. Principal Dan Barnes said the person seen on the gurney had an asthma attack that was unrelated to the dress code protest.
El Cajon police Lt. Randy Soulard said he didn’t have much information about the protest.
“The school district is handling this incident and any resulting investigation or discipline,” Soulard wrote in an email Monday afternoon. “The El Cajon Police were on scene to ensure the safety of the children on campus.”
In an email, McGlashen indicated the dress code had not changed recently, but he wrote that “it was shared with GHS families and students over the weekend as a reminder.”
“We’re still gathering information about how and why the protest started,” McGlashen wrote. “… As we learn more, we’ll have conversations with our students and school community.”
A change.org petition created Sunday, which appeared to be written by a senior at the high school, indicated students were upset by portions of the dress code viewed as misogynistic and sexist.
“Controlling how students dress, specifically female students (or students who prefer a more feminine style), enforces shame in our bodies, not safety,” the petition’s author wrote. “… It is September in San Diego and the heat is still not dying down. Students are going to dress to the weather so they can be comfortable to learn, that is a safe learning environment.”
The dress code prohibits about 20 clothing items or styles, including sleeveless and low-cut garments; bare midriffs; strapless shirts, tube tops and spaghetti straps; sagging pants; miniskirts and short shorts; sports jerseys other than school athletic jerseys; spiked jewelry; clothing displaying logos of racist groups or gangs; and clothing advertising alcohol, tobacco, drugs or “sex-related” brands like Playboy and Hustler.
“I am going to show my legs, I am going to show my shoulders, I am going to show my stomach. Not only because it is extremely hot outside, but there is nothing wrong with those parts of my body. Nor is there anything wrong with yours,” the Change.org petition’s author wrote. “It’s not distracting any other students, and if it is we should teach our students not to sexualize and objectify each other. We all have a body and that is okay, we should not have to hide it for the sake of someone else’s unjustified discomfort.”
According to the school’s website, the dress code is “a dynamic document” that can be changed anytime throughout the school year, and consequences for breaking the dress code range from the school providing a chance of clothing to suspension.
