Downey : Lunch Program Protest Results in Suspensions

Between 60 and 80 students were suspended and more than 100 were in detention at Warren High School all week for their role in last Friday’s protest against the school’s closed lunch program.

Ed Harcharik, principal of Warren High in Downey, said that about 300 students staged a sit-in at 12:35 p.m. Friday, after lunch, protesting a school board policy forbidding students to leave campus during the lunch period. A food fight broke out, and Harcharik said he tried to talk to the students and persuade them to return to class. A few left, he said, but a group of about 100 students ran past administrative offices, breaking about six windows and turning over trash cans.

One student was arrested for threatening a teacher and three others were arrested for destroying property, Harcharik said. He said the four ninth- and 10th-graders later were released to their parents.

About 15 parents called the school Monday to express support for the closed lunch policy, Harcharik said. Parents and residents also have started a petition drive to keep the lunch period closed for safety reasons.