It was a heated meeting on Thursday night as parents on both sides shared their concerns with the Quakertown Community School District after a recent clash between police and student protesters.
Some parents at the school board meeting on Feb. 26 said they are upset the district didn’t provide students with a safe space to protest while other parents said students shouldn’t be protesting during school hours.
Tensions flared as parents demanded answers.
“Everyone up here needs to look at this from a place of love in your heart for all of the students, including the students who were being put in chokeholds,” parent Laura Foster said.
“You want to protest? You do that on your own time,” another parent named Amalia said.
The school board told parents that the protest had been canceled ahead of safety concerns and threats.
“We issued a notice before the start of school on Friday that due to safety concerns, students should not continue with the protest. This was in no way an attempt to silence students,” David O’Donnell, of the Quakertown Community School Board, said.
Some parents questioned why the school board didn’t provide a safe alternative.
“While the event was cancelled at the last minute without an alternative, it was predictable that students would leave campus. Instead of guiding their energy into a safer option, we left them to navigate it on their own,” parent Jessica said.
Other defended the school’s decision to cancel the protest.
“If you want to protest, if you want your voices to be heard, do it without violating laws, breaking policy, causing problems, blocking traffic, assaulting each other and assaulting police,” parent Michael Rodgers said.
Ahead of the meeting, parents and students held a peaceful protest with many calling for the Quakertown Police Chief to be removed or suspended.
Video from Friday, Feb. 20, shows the longtime police chief – who was in plain clothes – putting his arm around a 15-year-old girl while others threw punches at him.
The chief was hurt during the altercation and five teenagers were arrested.
As of Thursday evening, NBC10 was told that four of the five students arrested were released with one still in custody.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said that they are conducting an independent investigation into the incident.
Students arrested at ICE protest
At least five teenagers were arrested after students and police clashed during an anti-ICE protest in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, investigators said.
Earlier that morning, the House Principal of Quakertown Community High School, Dr. Jason Magditch, sent a letter to students, staff and families that the planned protest was canceled after the district received a report on Feb. 19 regarding potential safety concerns.
Despite this, around 35 Quakertown Community High School students still participated in the protest on Friday and walked out of class, according to officials.
Quakertown police responded to 5th and Broad streets in Quakertown around 11:35 a.m. that morning as the students marched in the area. Police said they warned the students to stay out of traffic. As the protest reached East Broad Street, some of the students began throwing snowballs at vehicles, kicking cars and damaging property, according to police. Police said they warned the protesters to remain civil at that point.
The protest then continued to Front and Juniper streets where the students blocked traffic and jumped in front of vehicles, police said. More officers were called to the scene and the students clashed with police, according to investigators.
Videos circulating on social media show confrontations between the students and police officers. Another video shows a student being led away in handcuffs.
Another cellphone video shared with NBC10 shows a man in a brown shirt – identified as Quakertown’s police chief – in a fight while being surrounded by students. The video also shows a second officer bringing someone to the ground.
Police said five to six teenagers and one adult were taken into custody.