A protest inspired by the high school student movement in France broke out at the Polyvalente de Saint-Jérôme (EPSJ) high school in Quebec on October 16. In response to the protest and “acts of vandalism” by some students, school administrators announced on Tuesday the suspension of 78 students. The school board claims that the students had no specific demands, but a suspended student told The North Star otherwise.
According to media reports, around noon on October 16, a group of students from the high school began a protest in the school hallways. TVA Nouvelles says 2,000 of the school’s 3,400 students took part in the protest. As the students moved through the school, more and more of their classmates joined the crowd.
The crowd gathered in the main hallway, where acts of violence and vandalism were reported by school officials. The Rivière-du-Nord School Service Center (CSSRDN) declined to provide further details on the nature of the vandalism. The only verifiable incidents reported in the mainstream media and corroborated by The North Star were the throwing of a trash can and toilet paper.
A “dance battle” reportedly took place and was perceived as a fight by the staff. Eight police cars then arrived on the scene, and two students were arrested before being released. Classes reportedly resumed, only to be interrupted shortly afterward when the fire alarm went off.
Following the protest, 78 students were suspended by the administration. After the weekend and a special professional development day on October 19, the administration planned to strengthen its security measures upon the students’ return to class, with security guards and police officers.
The CSSRDN told The North Star that it “does indeed endorse the disciplinary measures imposed on students who initiated or participated in the disruptive action.” According to them, the protesters’ actions “put the safety of students and staff members at risk.”
A protest with no demands?
According to the CSSRDN, “no demands were made by the students who initiated the events. It was therefore not a protest aimed at advancing demands, but rather an initiative intended to disrupt school activities.”
Jérémy*, a student at the EPSJ who was suspended following his participation in the gathering, reports, however, that demands were circulating among the students: “Some were written saying they wanted cell phones back and that there’s asbestos in the third-floor ceilings and all sorts of things.”
The North Star was unable to verify who made these demands or to what extent they were shared by the students present.
The student, contacted by The North Star via TikTok’s private messaging feature, says he does not understand the reasons for his four-day suspension. He explains that he was simply breakdancing in the middle of the gathering, without knowing exactly which action he was being accused of.
“The school didn’t even tell me what I did,” he lamented. He also stated that another student, who was in class at the time of the events, was also suspended.
The CSSRDN reiterates that the suspensions are not intended to suppress students’ political demands but to punish acts of vandalism. “No disciplinary measures should be imposed solely for the expression of an opinion or peaceful participation in a protest.”
*A pseudonym has been used to protect the identity of the minor student.
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