On Friday, Feb. 6, at about 2pm, hundreds of students at Clint Small Middle School walked out of class with backpacks on and posters in their hands to protest the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the country, “including the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents,” according to their student-released statement.
“We are skipping our lessons to teach you one,” one student’s sign read.
Another sign, made of glued-together sheets of paper, spelled out “Abolish ICE.”
As the large cohort of students made their way down the 290 frontage road to the Target shopping center, and later toward William Cannon Drive, the students displayed their signs to the passing cars, several honking in support.
“It’s been easy to feel like I don’t have a voice in these matters … like the recent actions of ICE,” one student, Emmet D., told the Chronicle.
About the act of walking out of class in protest, Emmet said, “We don’t really have that much power in most things that are going on in the world, and this is a way that we do have power.”
Emmet’s parents, Adam and Krisdee, were initially hesitant to allow their child to participate in the walkout, concerned about safety. But ultimately, they told the Chronicle they were proud of Emmet and the other student protesters for speaking up.
“We don’t really have that much power in most things that are going on in the world, and this is a way that we do have power.”
Emmet D., student at Clint Small Middle School
“If ICE is invading schools and affecting families that are at schools, students very much should have a say, and they don’t get to vote yet,” Adam D. emphasized. “I think it’s beautiful that the kids have decided to do this. … And I hope it spreads all over Texas. I hope it spreads all over the country.”
Over the last two weeks, the wave of students walking out of class in protest of ICE at over a dozen Austin ISD schools has brought the school district under calls for investigation by Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Commissioner of Education Mike Morath.
On Jan. 30, Abbott requested that Morath investigate the student walkouts across Austin ISD. “AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest,” Abbott wrote on X. “Our schools are for educating our children, not political indoctrination.” On the same day, Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura clarified in a letter to families that the student walkouts were not sponsored or endorsed by AISD or any specific school.
Morath reacted to the governor’s demand on social media, with the TEA releasing new guidance on Feb. 3 regarding the student walkouts. Protesting students must be marked as absent, teachers facilitating walkouts will be “subject to investigation and sanction including licensure revocation,” and school districts facilitating walkouts will now be subject to investigation and takeover by the state agency, “including either the appointment of a monitor, conservator or board of managers,” according to the news release.
In response to the TEA’s new guidance, on Feb. 6, Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura released a new protest protocol, the district’s second letter to families regarding the continued protests.
“Staff are not permitted to participate in, help plan, provide guidance, or endorse these student-sponsored activities unless directed to do so for safety and monitoring purposes only,” Segura clarified, leaving the monitoring and protection of protesting students off-campus (over 300 feet away from campus property) to local law enforcement.
On Feb. 2, Paxton demanded information regarding policies related to allowing students to leave campus, excused absence policies, the district’s security protocols, and internal communications regarding the walkouts, claiming that AISD facilitated students’ departure from campuses. “These AISD officials are trying to impose their radical political agenda on the next generation by not only allowing them to skip class to protest lawful immigration enforcement activities, but worse yet – use tax dollars to do so,” Paxton accused in a press release.
“Our office is confounded by your stated position that AISD was helpless to keep these students from departing campus during the school day,” Paxton wrote in a Feb. 2 letter to Segura. “This flagrant disregard for the welfare of children in your district and the use of public funds in support of these activities sets a dangerous precedent before the upcoming elections, which could be seen as electioneering.”
“AISD is not helpless,” Kenneth Walker, head of general legal counsel for AISD, wrote in a Feb. 6 reply letter to Paxton. “However, short of physically restraining students, we cannot stop them from leaving campus… As I am sure you would agree, Texas law does not contemplate using any degree of force to compel school attendance.”
“Like many districts across the state, students organized mass walkouts. AISD is the only district that the Attorney General has announced it will investigate. Despite being singled out, we stand firm that we have not engaged in any practice inconsistent with the parameters in which we are permitted to engage with our students,” Walker concluded the letter.
On Feb. 9, 39 Texas state representatives undersigned a letter to Morath regarding his agency’s guidance, writing, “The response from both the Governor and TEA has focused on punishment rather than partnership, leaving districts to manage complex, real-time safety situations without the clarity and support they need.”
They also requested answers to clarifying questions regarding the governor’s directives to TEA, the definition of “facilitating” a walkout, and what the terms of a school district takeover by the state agency would be on the basis of student-led demonstrations.
“We can all agree that students possess constitutional free speech rights,” the representatives continued. “Respecting those rights must go hand in hand with ensuring student safety and maintaining an effective learning environment.”
This article appears in February 13 • 2026.