On Jan. 30, high school and junior high students in Lompoc and other parts of North County took part in demonstrations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), (“Local high school students take part in nationwide walkouts to protest ICE,” Feb. 5).
The Lompoc Record reported that “at Lompoc High School, students were released early to participate and assembled in front of campus with signs bearing messages such as ‘ICE out of 805,’ ‘Impeach Trump Now,’ ‘No White Supremacy,’ and ‘F— ICE,’ while some waved the Mexican flag.”
It appears to me that the Lompoc school district is condoning absenteeism to support opposition to federal government authority.
The Sun’s article reports, “‘Lompoc Unified School District confirms that it had some students at secondary schools participate in peaceful, lawful protests and walkouts on Friday,’ Communications Specialist Caasi Chavez said via email on behalf of the district.
“‘Staff were well aware and prepared for the possibility,’ Chavez continued. ‘We recognize that students have First Amendment protection while at school and work, so we inform them of these rights, document absences accordingly, and monitor students who choose to participate.’”
It appears to me that the Lompoc school district is condoning absenteeism to support opposition to federal government authority instead of educating these young minds that we put in their care about the importance of following the laws enacted by the U.S. Congress.
It seems like local school districts have lost focus on what their mission is. There have been several other reports of similar student absences all over the county for the same type of demonstrations.
On its webpage, the Lompoc Unified School District says its goals are, among others: “ensuring all students graduate college- and career-ready” and “reach grade-level proficiency in English and math.”
The district has the distinction of failing to deliver on this commitment to our community when objectively measured against the state of California education standards. Keep in mind that California rates in the bottom third of the nation, and the Lompoc district’s performance places it near the bottom compared to other districts in Santa Barbara County.
A previous column highlighted the Lompoc district’s results from the 2024-25 assessments in English language arts and mathematics, released in October 2025 by the California Department of Education, that show that 32 percent of students in grades K-8 and 11 in Lompoc met or exceeded state standards in English Language Arts, compared to 49 percent statewide. (“Lompoc’s school district is failing the community,” Nov. 12, 2025).
That means that about 66 percent of students graduate without being able to perform at grade level.
Instead of enabling and promoting school absence to support popular liberal causes, maybe district officials and the Lompoc Unified School District board of education should revert to their core mission of educating their charges on how to become employable in a society that requires a strong understanding of English language arts and mathematics.
Instead, the Santa Maria Times reported that “board President Tracy Phillips said staff could not legally stop students from leaving campus. She added that calling the event indoctrination ‘is the very antithesis’ of teaching students to think critically.”
The Encyclopedia Britanica explains that critical thinking is an “educational theory, is a method of thinking that uses thorough reasoning and unbiased examination of data to find a potential answer to a problem.”
How can students who have poor reading skills and very limited experience in life form an unbiased opinion of anything?
And during a school board meeting, the Times reported that “Skyler Petersen, president of the Lompoc Federation of Teachers, sharply criticized (a) board member (for) her statements suggested students were indoctrinated and warned such claims could endanger staff in the current political climate.” This same board member was taken to task for her statement by her fellow board members.
So, I looked up the definition of indoctrinate, which Merriam-Webster defines as “to imbue with a usually partisan or sectarian opinion, point of view, or principle.” That appears to be exactly what the Lompoc Unified School District administration, school board, and the teacher’s union advocate by supporting, aiding, and encouraging students to support a “partisan or sectarian opinion, point of view, or principle.”
A dramatic change of direction is needed in the Lompoc Unified School District and other school districts that support organized marches by undereducated students who have not been taught the skills necessary to use “thorough reasoning and unbiased examination of data to find a potential answer to a problem.”
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in March 19 – March 26, 2026.
While I can agree with Mr. Fink that education is of prime importance and California Schools are far below where many of us would like them to be, it’s equally important to remember that civics and social studies are also core courses that teach the principles of the foundation of our current government. One of those core principles is the right to free speech including the right to peacefully protest. Seeing students understand their Constitutionally protected and exercise them is just as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic. The school said they were documenting the absences, which reflects on the student’s record. To deny the students their rights protected under the first amendment would be not only detrimental to the school itself but also be a grave disservice to the students.
In this modern era, people can get information from a variety of sources, many of which don’t require reading. What they do require is the ability to hear multiple points of view, understand the content being provided, be able to discern which viewpoints provide facts and unbiased information, and then make an informed opinion. Critical Thinking skills are vastly undervalued in today’s society and aren’t even focused on in schools until the college level. Also, for the record, when one expresses their own opinion, this would be a biased opinion. That is the very nature of expressing one’s own opinion. It’s important to remember that while using critical thinking skills and forming your own opinion, it’s still crucial to remain open-minded to challenging your opinion and adjusting it as time moves forward. The problem with opinions comes from taking a rigid stance and never challenging your own opinions for validity in the face of evidence that opposes it.