{"id":145581,"date":"2026-02-06T02:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T02:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/145581\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T02:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T02:57:07","slug":"paxon-high-schoolers-stage-walk-out-during-lunch-to-protest-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/145581\/","title":{"rendered":"Paxon high schoolers stage walk out during lunch to protest ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Dozens of high schoolers at Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville walked out of their lunch periods Thursday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), gathering on the school\u2019s football field with signs and chanting \u201cICE out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The demonstration, which was organized through flyers circulated online, drew students during both lunch periods. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing a demonstration against ICE and what they have been doing to the people of this nation,\u201d said Catherine Leake, an 18-year-old Paxon student. \u201cThis nation is built on immigrants; immigrants make this nation great.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Florida schools warned: Encouraging student protests could lead to disciplinary action for teachers<\/a><\/p>\n

School staff were present during the protest to maintain safety protocols while allowing students to exercise their right to peaceful protest. The demonstration comes in the wake of a memo from the Florida Department of Education to schools across the state regarding student protests.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Commissioner of Education acknowledged students\u2019 constitutional rights while emphasizing school district responsibilities: \u201cStudents retain constitutional rights to free expression, including the ability to engage in peaceful protest,\u201d the commissioner stated. \u201cDistricts have a responsibility to ensure that any protest activity does not interrupt instructional time, school operations, and campus safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxon\u2019s protests were allowed to happen because they were done outside of instructional time.<\/p>\n

News4JAX has reached out to all seven Duval County school board members and the school district administration for comment on the student demonstration. <\/p>\n

The Duval County School Board sent News4JAX this statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs requested of all Florida school districts, we shared the Florida Department of Education communication with both staff and families. For reference, Board Policy 5.27 outlines district guidelines related to student assembly: https:\/\/www.duvalschools.org\/o\/dcps\/page\/chapter-5-students<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding Paxon, we are aware of a peaceful, pre-organized student-led gathering that took place this morning during students\u2019 lunch periods. While the activity was not school-sponsored or staff-led, student leaders worked with school administrators in advance to help ensure the gathering remained safe, orderly, and aligned with Board Policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the school board have not yet reached back out with comments. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Dozens of high schoolers at Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville walked out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[28,1877,1841,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-145581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-ice","10":"tag-immigration","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","13":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}