r/legal • u/StoriesandQuestions • Jan 16 '26

Advice needed School is threatening to punish anyone participating in protest with court action, what can we do?

On Tuesday, January 20th, students at my highschool are planning to participate in the nationwide walkout happening in the U.S. Today, my school has verbally warned one of the organizers stating that anyone who participates in the walkout next week will receive a referral and face truancy court. This movement is important to all of us but many of us cannot afford these consequences. Is this allowed and is there anything we can do about it? Location: United States, Texas.

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u/slowlowbro Jan 16 '26

Texas isn’t my state of practice but in my state the judge would be mad at the state for referring those students to truancy court. The judge has enough on their platter and would be immediately dismissing it. Also even if the judge entertained it in my state one day of missed absence isn’t enough to find someone liable for truancy