CCHS Students Skip School to Protest ICE
On Friday, January 30th, 2026, hundreds of CCHS students, along with thousands of Angelenos and millions of Americans, participated in a National Shutdown Day to protest ICE actions throughout the US, including the killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Keith Porter Jr. Following in the footsteps of a January 23 general strike in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, activists urged people to follow 3 guidelines for the day—“No work. No school. No shopping.”—in order to disrupt the economy, urge Congress to pass legislation regulating ICE, and show solidarity with those impacted by the illegal actions of ICE agents.
“No school,” of course, had the biggest impact on Culver City High School. Around 800 CCHS students didn’t attend school on Friday, nearly 40% of total enrollment. US history teacher Jennifer Kochevar notes that, “not a lot of learning got done,” and she only had 3-9 students present in each of her classes on Friday. While some students took a three-day weekend and spent the day at home, many others attended protests throughout the LA area.
In particular, a protest was scheduled to take place at 3:30pm at the Culver Steps in downtown Culver City. When CCHS senior Raelie Loredo heard about it in 5th period on Thursday, she decided to take action. She and her friends planned to meet at 2:00pm at Carlson Park to make protest signs and walk to the Culver Steps together. They spread the word through social media, and, by 2:00pm on Friday, at least 100 CCHS students had gathered at the park.
As they drew their signs, Loredo led protests chants on a megaphone, which she continued to do as the students walked a mile to the Culver Steps, following the path of previous CCHS walkouts protesting the Trump Administration. There, around 3:30, they joined another group of protestors and students who were already chanting and waving signs. For Loredo, whose father immigrated to the United States, the violence ICE agents have perpetrated is an issue “that can’t not matter to you.”
The solidarity shown by the students of all grades who joined Loredo proved her correct. The protest at the Culver Steps lasted until well after 5:30pm, and as the sun went down Culver City residents, CCHS students, and students from other high schools in the area (including LACES and Venice High), yelled and cheered as cars drove by and honked. Loredo, holding a bluetooth speaker, led students as they line danced in the intersection of Culver Blvd. and Main St. For junior Iris Harmon, dancing was “a way to make the protest uplifting, instead of just focusing on the negative."
Some Culver City students also attended a protest in Downtown LA at 1:00pm, part of the larger ICE Out of Everywhere protest movement. Thousands of LA residents had gathered in front of City Hall, and members of the Vote Socialist California campaign and the Black Lives Matter Grassroots movement spoke through microphones from the back of a flatbed truck. They called on protesters to support abolishing the police as well as ICE, as the two organizations support one another, and to acknowledge that Donald Trump had “declared war on the working class.” Here, students had access to a wider range of political views. This protest came in conflict with law enforcement later in the evening and led to the arrest of around 50 protesters who resisted when police and federal agents demanded they disperse.
However, many Culver students still went to school on Friday for a variety of reasons such as fear of missing lessons, parents who wouldn’t let them skip, or, for some, a concern about school funding. CCUSD Superintendent Dr. Alonso Jiménez emailed CCUSD families on Wednesday informing them of the potential school budget impact. In California, the amount of state funding a school district receives annually is based on school attendance, so, as Dr. Jiménez noted, if a large number of students miss a day of school, CCUSD will lose a substantial amount of funding. This strike comes in a year where CCUSD is already experiencing a budget shortfall, requiring spending cuts throughout the district.
But, like with walkouts, CCHS staff have been supportive of students taking action. For instance, the annual Scheduling Fair was moved from Friday to Tuesday to make it easier for students to skip school to protest. College Counselor Thelma Valverde didn’t attend school on Friday in order to attend the protest in Downtown LA and supports students who did the same because, in her words, “with the situation we are in, it is unfortunate that we had to make this decision right now, when it’s like a double-edged sword . . . But since this moment is so important in our history and we are going to be judged by the world, we have to do it.”
“I feel humbled by the youth. You all make me feel like things are going to get better,” Ms. Valverde said.