Principal Takes Hat Off to Student Protest : Education: After failing to overturn a ban on headgear, hundreds of teen-agers at Birmingham High rally and win the support of the chief administrator.

Birmingham High School students learned a bit about politics Wednesday: When you can’t win by the rules, change the way the game is played.

A broad mix of between 300 and 400 students at the Van Nuys high school skipped classes in a mass protest Wednesday to overturn the school’s ban on hats, after failing to change the controversial rule through a signature drive and other methods suggested by their new principal.

Athletes, nerds, teen queens, tough guys--even the student body president--took up the cause, walking out of class shortly after 9 a.m. and donning the forbidden hats--mostly baseball-style caps marked with logos ranging from the New York Yankees to the Los Angeles Zoo.

The generally peaceful two-hour demonstration--during which the students sang, “All we are saying, is give us our hats”--ended in a hastily called meeting between student leaders and Principal Henry Gradillas.

“They’ve persuaded me they should be given that right,” said Gradillas, who was principal of James A. Garfield High School in Los Angeles during its rise to fame as chronicled in the film “Stand and Deliver.” His support is considered key to winning final approval before a school leadership council composed of faculty, parents and school employees.

Teen-agers told Gradillas that all students should not be penalized by a ban because a handful of students may wear hats to advertise an alleged gang affiliation.

Although surprised that the hat prohibition prompted such a protest, “I applaud the fact they are getting off their duffs,” said Gradillas, who took over as principal of the 3,000-student school six weeks ago.

Birmingham’s previous principal banned hats last fall, following the lead of school officials throughout Southern California who have found that hats are often worn by students to identify themselves as gang members.

Some principals in the Los Angeles Unified School District have banned all hats, while others only allow students to wear school hats.

Protesting students at Birmingham said they were angry with Gradillas, who encouraged students to fight the ban by collecting signatures and presenting arguments to the school’s 16-member leadership council.

But after collecting 1,100 student signatures in support of hats, and 14 opposed, the council on March 11 voted down the measure 12 to 4, with Gradillas siding against the students. Gradillas and the council also voted against a compromise measure that would allow students to wear baseball-style hats with the Birmingham logo.

“He brought this on himself,” said Jason Van Vliet, 16, a Birmingham junior. “Gradillas said, if enough people wanted to wear hats, they would consider it.”

Student Body President Noah Kirshbaum, 17, said the link between wearing hats and school violence is an exaggerated fear by school officials.

“I see all kinds of students, all races, all kinds of hats, and there doesn’t seem to be any trouble,” said Kirshbaum, pointing to the crowd of protesters and himself wearing a University of Michigan hat.

But Wednesday’s apparent victory is only the first step for the protesters. They must now persuade the majority of the school’s leadership council to overturn the ban on hats.

Besides hats, students say they oppose a proposal by Gradillas to review the school’s policy of allowing seniors to eat lunch off campus.