Over the objections of Sparrows Point High School Principal Larissa Santos, around 50 students marched out of school Friday morning shouting “ICE out! ICE out!”

Around two dozen high schools and middle schools in Baltimore County participated in Friday’s walkouts, but an hour before several began, Baltimore County Public Schools issued a two-hour early districtwide dismissal for “impending inclement weather.”

Friday’s forecast called for a high of 34 degrees with “intermittent snow and flurries with little to no accumulation.” The two-hour early closure overlapped with the times of many scheduled protests.

Sparrows Point seniors Mariana “Mar” Pastor and Carmen Butrim — who organized the countywide walkouts through their Instagram page, @bcpssocialjustice — were furious about the closure.

“We know exactly what BCPS did,” Pastor, 18, said. “They tried to silence us.”

District spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala told the Banner that schools were closing because of the weather, but had no other comment about the walkouts.

On Thursday, Maryland lawmaker Del. Nino Mangione wrote a letter to Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers.

The avowed MAGA Republican demanded Rogers’ administration prevent disruption of district operations after seeing social media posts that students at Hereford High School planned to walk out.

“I am not sure of the legitimacy of this threat, where this email graphic promoting this insurrection originated, or who is behind this obviously political motivated group,” Mangione wrote. “This type of activity has no place in Baltimore County school system and I am quite confident you agree.”

“We have no comment on the letter,” Onijala wrote in an email.

Perseverance at Sparrows Point, Perry Hall

Shortly before noon, Sparrows Point students defied their principal’s wishes to end their rally and come back inside.

Their chants of “No justice, no peace!” drowned out the administrator’s demands over the megaphone.

Butrim said she was extremely disappointed by Santos’ efforts to diminish the impact of their protest by requiring that they assemble in the auditorium, presumably due to the cold.

“We talked to our principal so many times and it was such a mutual respect, and then to hear they closed schools early because of icy conditions?” the 17-year-old said.

She then pointed to the clear skies in disbelief, questioning what weather the school district was referring to.

About 17 miles northeast of Butrim and Pastor, Perry Hall High School’s student body president, Suwilanji Siame, led a group of 500 students out of the building and marched around campus twice before school ended.

The 18-year-old said around 500 students walked out of class an hour earlier than they had previously planned.

“I was telling kids in the hallway during passing period that we’re still gonna do this,” Siame said. “I think because they knew almost every school was participating in the walkout they [Baltimore County Public Schools] decided to close schools.”

Regional inspiration

Baltimore County Councilman Izzy Patoka greeted Siame, Butrim and Pastor outside Perry Hall High School and thanked the students for their organizing efforts

“You can stand and be spectators or you can try to understand what’s going on nationally ... and you decided to take action,” he said, congratulating them.

The Pikesville Democrat, who is running for county executive, championed a pair of bills establishing some immigration protections and resources that passed during Monday’s County Council meeting.

Patoka said it was important for Baltimore County students to speak out and expressed his disappointment with the district’s decision to close schools early.

“There’s education practices and there’s tactical practices. I think what the school system did is engage in tactical practices,” he said. “And I think we should focus more on educational practices.”

Students at many Baltimore County high schools participated, including: Catonsville, Dulaney, Eastern Technical, Franklin, Hereford, Kenwood, Towson and Woodlawn. Students also walked out at Cockeysville Middle School.

The day before, students at Baltimore City public schools also demonstrated, filling streets around City College, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School.

Hundreds of students from Dunbar protested with signs that read “I prefer crushed ICE” and “My Mom works harder than your president.”

They marched to Baltimore City Hall while hundreds of City College students left their campus in East Baltimore.

The student protest was not organized by the district or individual schools, but school leaders worked with city police to give students designated spaces to walk safely during the march.

“Baltimore City Public Schools students are exercising their constitutional rights to freedom of expression, petition, and peaceful assembly,” read a statement from the city schools.

Pastor and Butrim both drove to Perry Hall after their own protest to support their fellow BCPS students. They expressed fear that they might be disciplined for their efforts.

“We tried to do this the right way,” Pastor said.

Onijala previously told The Banner that students have a right to assemble, according to the BCPS student handbook, but that local administrators could set limits on when, where and how students demonstrate.

“Generally speaking, a student would not be suspended for participating in a walkout,” Onijala wrote in a previous email. “Now, if, during or even immediately following the walkout they engaged in behavior that is in direct violation of the Student Handbook, the school would provide appropriate consequences.”

Banner reporter Liz Bowie contributed to this article.

This article has been updated to clarify that Baltimore County Public Schools released two hours early Friday for expected inclement weather.