On Thursday February 5, several students at the Synergy Quantum Academy approached the front gate of their school as part of an LAUSD-wide walkout against the ICE raids in Los Angeles and in solidarity with Minneapolis’s organizers against Operation Metro Surge.
The day prior, several Synergy Quantum students had held another walkout where, according to a representative from Union Del Barrio, several students suffered minor injuries caused by jumping over the front gate while it was locked. Synergy states that only 20 students had walked out on Wednesday and that they received no reports of students with injuries.
Teacher Ricardo Lopez was present at the front gate on Thursday and, after having received images from the school regarding some of the student’s injuries, decided it was best to open the gate to allow the kids to easily walk out, minimizing potential harm from occurring again.
Within the hour, Lopez was terminated from his position. He was escorted out of the premises and unable to grab all of his belongings.
“It hurt,” Lopez tells L.A. TACO. “I felt almost like a criminal. Some of my students saw me being escorted out.”
“Me being the closest adult and trying to prevent other students from jumping the gate, I opened the gate for them,” he says. “Within an hour, I was let go.”
L.A. TACO was present at a press conference hosted by Lopez, Union Del Barrio, and the Association of Raza Educators on Tuesday, February 10, where advocates, students, parents, and faculty described their frustration at the termination of this beloved history teacher, demanding he be reinstated.
In Lopez’s speech, he offered one clear message: “Protecting students should never be grounds for punishment.”
One of the high school students who also spoke said, “We are the history of now, and if we don’t speak up, challenge injustice, and take initiative, then justice and equality will never be given to us . . . [Mr. Lopez] didn’t tell us what to think, he taught us how to think critically, how to question power, and how to use our voices to make sure we are heard.”
Lopez had been at Synergy for two years.
According to Lopez, his termination was the result of a violation of an LAUSD policy, despite Synergy being a non-profit charter school and not part of LAUSD. We have reached out to Synergy for comment regarding which LAUSD policy was cited, but have received no reply.
UPDATE: Synergy Academies responded to our inquiry with the following statement:
Over the last few days, groups of students at Synergy Quantum Academy have been participating in student-led protests on campus. School administrators have been present throughout the day to supervise students and prioritize safety. To date, the school has received no reports of student injuries related to student protests.
We respect students’ rights to express themselves and understand that moments like these often reflect deeply held concerns. Our responsibility as a school is to ensure that student expression happens in a way that protects students’ safety and complies with established campus protocols.
Synergy Quantum Academy is a public charter school co-located on a Los Angeles Unified School District campus. Synergy works collaboratively with our District partners to follow the campus access and safety procedures set by LAUSD policy to ensure the safety of students from both schools. Decisions about whether students may leave campus during the school day are made solely by school administration, according to campus safety protocols.
Families continue to be notified, all students have been accounted for, and counselors and support staff have been available to students who wish to talk or need additional support.
We appreciate the partnership of our families and community as we continue to support our students, uphold their rights, and maintain a safe and orderly learning environment.
SQA shares a campus with Dr. Maya Angelou Community Senior High and follows their safety protocols. Synergy specifically noted item 7,6 from the school’s Integrated Safe School plan, which explains the procedures to be followed by school administration and staff during a “demonstration/walkout.” They did not specify nor explain how Lopez breached protocol / procedure.
