After Highland Park Students Marched Off Campus, Suspensions Announced — Then Reconsidered
A Highland Park parent says she supports her son’s activism, even as the district reviews potential discipline following a walkout that moved from campus to Main Street.
More than 150 Highland Park High School students participated in a walkout protesting immigration enforcement before some marched off campus and down Main Street.
Chris Howell | February 16, 2026
When Melissa Quaal learned her son could be suspended for participating in a student walkout protesting ICE enforcement tactics, her first thought was clear.
“If we can’t stand up for this, what do we stand up for?” she said. “This is clearly a moment when it’s important to stand up against something — even if everyone doesn’t agree with you.”
More than 150 students participated in Friday’s walkout at Highland Park High School, according to Superintendent Dr. Kristina Susca. The protest, organized as part of a nationwide movement in response to immigration enforcement actions across the country and in New Jersey, drew students concerned about the impact on their community.
The district had permitted students to gather on school grounds during a break between classes. Most students remained on campus and returned to class once the break ended. A smaller group, including Quaal’s junior son, chose to march off school property and down Main Street.
“He felt strongly that it was important that the message reach the impacted community,” Quaal said, referring to Highland Park’s immigrant population. “It was important to him that the march reach Main Street so that the community could see that the students supported them.”
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She said her son felt validated based on the response the students received as they marched down Main Street.
The mother said her son did not want to be identified because he does not believe he has the authority to speak on behalf of all the protesters.
Quaal wasn’t particularly aware that the walkout was planned, though she’d heard some rumblings. It wasn’t something she discussed with her son beforehand.
“In our home, we talk about the issues a lot and what’s going on with ICE,” she said. “So I was aware that these kids have a concern with this issue.”
She acknowledged that she felt excited about the walkout and the march off campus.
“For me both things feel good, and for my son, as someone who chose to walk off those school grounds, it felt important to him,” she said.
The school districted responded quickly.
Quaal received an email from the school on Friday and later discovered a suspension had been added to her son’s record in the school portal. The initial suspension letter bore no name, she noted.
“There were students who chose to walk out and they knew they were going to be in some kind of trouble,” she said. “He heard there were going to be consequences. He didn’t know what those consequences were going to be.”
Her frustration ran deeper than disagreement with the policy. Quaal believes school officials acted hastily.
“They acted impulsively because the situation felt out of control and they had liability,” she said. “If someone got hurt and something would’ve happened, they would have been held responsible.”
Then on the next day, the district revised its stance.
In a follow-up message to families, Dr. Susca wrote that “no initial disciplinary action will be imposed until the investigation is concluded and all relevant information has been carefully considered.” The letter acknowledged students’ right to protest and supports their “ability to express their views in a manner that is safe, orderly, and consistent with our educational mission.” However, the message also clarified that leaving school property “despite the express direction of school administrators to remain on campus” constituted a violation of the district’s Code of Conduct.
Quaal then received another email, this time from the principal, stating that “we are pausing the consequences at this time…until the investigation is complete and individual student meetings have occurred.”
“I applaud that because they really didn’t think through the first decision,” she said. “I wish that cooler heads had prevailed from the start. But I think in the end they had a cooler head about it.”
She suggested parental pushback played a role in the reversal, describing it as “an ‘in the moment feeling’” from administrators who “wanted to prevent it from happening again.”
The possibility of discipline has not disappeared. Quaal said she realizes that suspensions could still be imposed after the district completes its review and meets with individual students, though she hopes that outcome is unlikely.
She emphasized the educational value in whatever consequences may come.
“Activism includes risk and I think that these students, as budding activists, if they learn that lesson they learn that lesson,” she said. “Not everyone likes what activists do and the actions they take, and that’s an okay lesson to learn.”
Across Central Jersey, student walkouts protesting immigration enforcement have prompted different responses. In North Plainfield, students who left campus during instructional time received Saturday detention. In Edison, students waited until a half-day dismissal before marching and did not face discipline.
The differences underscore how timing, location, and district policy can shape outcomes.
The Highland Park School District did not respond to a request for comment beyond its official messages to families.
For Quaal, the outcome remains uncertain but her position does not.
“It will be what it will be, and I know I stand firm and stand by what we believe in regardless of how it plays out,” she said.
She said she hopes the walkout will “galvanize student activism and continued action around this issue” and “engender good conversation at the school.”
“These kids have a lot of compassion,” she said. “They care about their school and their community and this issue.”
Despite the initial friction, Quaal said she has “a lot of faith that the district will do right by this” while remaining proud of her son’s decision to participate.
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