By Tara Bahrampour and Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 31, 2006; B01

Demonstrations among high schoolers and middle schoolers spread yesterday as 1,500 students in Northern Virginia and a smaller group in Maryland poured into the streets to protest proposed federal legislation that would crack down on illegal immigrants.

Draped in flags of Latin American countries and ignoring threats from some school administrators, students from Arlington County, Fairfax County and Falls Church left school -- or skipped going altogether -- to converge at Ballston Metro and march to Courthouse Plaza in Arlington.

Although several District and Maryland schools have significant Latino populations, students in these areas have been slower to protest. Yesterday, however, about 300 students at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington staged a brief walkout.

It was the third time this week that large numbers of Northern Virginia students have joined nationwide protests against proposed legislation that would make being an illegal immigrant a felony and make it a crime to assist them.

Yesterday's walkouts elicited a variety of responses from school officials, from nods of support from principals and teachers to threats of suspension from district officials.

Many students said they worried their parents could be deported after years -- or decades -- of working and paying taxes in the United States.

"We're fighting for our parents and their rights 'cause they fight for us," said Jessica Montufar, 17, a junior at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, "GUATEMALA" written on her arm in black marker.

Montufar, whose parents emigrated from Guatemala 20 years ago, said as a U.S. citizen it was her responsibility to speak out for them. "Our parents, if they would be out here protesting, they have a fear that they could be sent back," she said.

At Courthouse Plaza, students held placards that denounced House Resolution 4437 and shouted, "America was built by immigrants!" and "We are not criminals!"

Kellie Mylko, 15, a sophomore at Washington-Lee, said she helped organize the effort to show that students "have a voice."

"We are the next major bloc of voters," she said. "They need to know what we think."

As with protests earlier this week, students learned of the action by word of mouth, fliers, text messages, and the Web site MySpace.com.

Apparently worried that schools would bar students from leaving, one flier's author warned students not to enter school buildings. However, school officials in Arlington, Fairfax and Falls Church said students were not locked in or prevented from leaving. In fact, Bob Snee, principal of George Mason High School in Falls Church, said some parents had called to approve their children's departures, making their absences excused. Prince William and Fairfax counties have similar policies.

In Arlington, absences for protests are considered unexcused, regardless of parental permission. Arlington schools spokeswoman Linda Erdos said one unexcused absence on an otherwise good record would not hurt a student, but chronic absences would lower grades and could lead to in-school suspensions. Erdos said 600 to 700 Arlington students, including 60 middle schoolers, joined yesterday's march.

Some Fairfax students said they had heard students with unexcused absences could face suspension or, for organizers, expulsion. Fairfax schools spokesman Paul Regnier said it was too early to know what the punishments would be.

In Prince William County, school officials said that, effective Wednesday, students with unexcused absences due to protests would be suspended until a meeting could be arranged with their parents to decide on a punishment.

But Arlington students said many faculty members were supportive. "On Tuesday [when a similar march took place] one of our vice principals said that he was really proud of us," said Elizabeth Raftery, 18, a senior at Wakefield High School.

And at Montgomery County's Einstein, one student reported that many teachers left their classrooms and clapped to show support.

In a letter to parents yesterday, Arlington School Superintendent Robert G. Smith said that "demonstrations regarding civic issues represent a longstanding tradition in our democratic society," but encouraged students to protest outside school hours. Protests were planned today by students from other Northern Virginia schools.

In Arlington, more than 100 police officers from Arlington, the Pentagon, Fairfax County and the state watched over the march, said Arlington police spokesman Matt Martin, adding that the hour-long protest was peaceful. Afterward, students were ferried back to their schools in buses sent by their districts.

Linda Slape, 14, a freshman at Wakefield and an organizer, said she was not worried about missing class.

"This is more important, because this is now and school is for the next four years," she said. "We want to do something that makes a difference today."

Staff writers Lori Aratani, Maria Glod and Ian Shapira contributed to this report.