On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Berkeley High School students walked out during second and third period to protest recent actions of School Resource Officer (SRO) Lino Guananja. Azucena Uribe, a BHS senior and speaker at the walkout, said the walkout intended to protest Guananja’s on-campus presence and bring awareness to recent issues and arrests involving the SRO.
An SRO, according to the United States Department of Justice, is a sworn law enforcement officer responsible for safety and crime prevention within schools. Lino Guananja is employed by the Berkeley Police Department (BPD) and was assigned to the school in the fall of 2024, replacing the previous SRO stationed at BHS. Like regular police officers, SROs have the ability to make arrests, carry firearms, and document illegal activity.
“There were three arrests in the past three weeks (and) they were all people of color,” Uribe said. Two of the arrests were a result of fights between students, according to Uribe.
Mykia Dunham-Schalet, a BHS senior and the lead organizer of the walkout, explained that the most recent of the three incidents involved a student experiencing a mental health crisis who was upset and shouting. According to Dunham-Schalet, the student was arrested by the SRO with unnecessary force.
BHS Principal Juan Raygoza wrote in an email to the Jacket that the BHS administration is unable to comment on the arrests due to confidentiality requirements under federal law.
After learning of these incidents, Dunham-Schalet decided that “enough (was) enough,” and proposed the idea of a walkout to Uribe and Sophia Tavistock-Kolb, a BHS sophomore, to bring students who cared about the situation together.
On Thursday, March 6, 2025, the Black Student Union (BSU) shared a call to action on Instagram prior to the walkout. “Dear students of Berkeley High School, we, the Black Student Union at Berkeley High (School), stand against the exploitation of power, and the safety of our black and brown students being threatened by the School resource officer here at BHS,” wrote the Black Student Union Executive Board, “We demand that this school resource officer is removed and fired from working within (Berkeley Unified School District).”
The BSU is petitioning for removal of the current SRO, extensive training for future SROs, student education on their rights, and for SROs to regularly meet with student leadership in order to foster transparency. As of Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 5 p.m., the petition had 314 signatures.
During the walkout, students gave speeches covering the SRO and arrests. The mic was then opened for public comment. “Despite how progressive Berkeley and Berkeley High (school) claims to be, these instances have shown how ingrained the school to prison pipeline, and the targeting of black and brown students, is in our system,” Tavistock-Kolb said during the walkout. The school to prison pipeline refers to policies and practices that disproportionately push students, from marginalized communities, into the prison system.
Reflecting on the walkout, Uribe said, “It was really amazing to hear people’s stories about dealing with the resource officer and just in general, how they felt, they shared their experiences.”
Dunham-Schalet estimated that approximately 50 students attended. When the speeches and comments concluded, the walkout moved inside, with the group of students chanting and marching through the halls. One chant was, “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”
“I had never been a part of anything like that, so I thought that was really powerful,” Uribe said.
Raygoza and other BHS administrators attended the walkout. Prior to the walkout, Raygoza met with BHS students and walkout organizers to discuss their concerns. During the meeting, Dunham-Schalet and three other BHS students discussed the arrests and how they believed students had been inappropriately handled, especially regarding the alleged physical assault of the student experiencing a mental health crisis. According to Uribe, in the meeting, Raygoza said he planned to speak to the chief of the BPD about the incidents.
Tavistock-Kolb contributed to the walkout planning, she said that in response to student concerns, the school needs to focus on “either getting him (the SRO) off campus or introducing him to students so they know who he is and why he’s there.”
According to Dunham-Schalet, many students who spoke at the walkout were frustrated by a lack of transparency from school officials about the arrests. A survey of 174 BHS students conducted by Dunham-Schalet and her club, Amnesty — a local extension of Amnesty International, a nonprofit dedicated to defending human rights — collected student data regarding law enforcement on campus and school safety. 85.3 percent of respondents reported that they were not or only vaguely aware of the recent on-campus arrests.
The SRO was not available to interview due to the sensitive nature of cases involving youths, but provided a statement to the Jacket. “I support student calls for transparency and communication surrounding incidents in our high school, and I have and will continue to make myself available to any student, student group, or staff person who wishes to voice concerns,” Guananja wrote in an email to the Jacket.
Guananja’s full statement is available below.
According to Guananja, plans to issue a statement through their Public Information Officer with details regarding the incidents. According to Raygoza, he along with the BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel and Compliance Officer Jasmina Viteskic met with the BPD Chief Jen Louis, BPD Captain Michael Durbin, and BPD Lieutenant Matt McGee, the former BHS SRO. Moving forward, Amnesty and BSU are continuing to collaborate on this issue. According to Tavistock-Kolb, Amnesty plans to address the situation at an upcoming school board meeting
Guananja’s full statement:
Hi Maia,
Here’s a statement from me. Sorry I couldn’t give more. There is lot of sensitivity around cases involving youth.
I want to thank the Berkeley Jacket’s effort in fact finding and though I am unable to provide the Jacket with case details myself, my department plans to issue a statement through our Public Information Officer with details regarding the incidents.
I support student calls for transparency and communication surrounding incidents in our high school, and I have and will continue to make myself available to any student, student group, or staff person who wishes to voice concerns. Additionally, as a person of color and son of immigrants, I care deeply about addressing harm within our community and doing so in the most tactful and caring way possible.
Lastly, I encourage for all students to advocate for what’s right, let your voices be heard, and seek out facts and reliable information to inform thoughtful opinions and actions.