Donald Trump Causes Anxiety in L.A. Schools: What the Day After the Election Was Like at the Mostly Latino Sylmar High

By Mike Szymanski November 10, 2016

When Principal James Lee arrived at school Wednesday morning to find a sea of anxious faces, he knew he had to do something.

Donald Trump was now the president-elect, and Lee recalled how his students had reacted with fear to some of the rhetoric during the presidential campaign about immigration, deportation and “the Wall.”

Sylmar Charter High School in the north San Fernando Valley has a student body that is 94 percent Latino, 81 percent socioeconomically disadvantaged and 25 percent English-language learners. So Lee quickly sent out a memo to all the teachers. At 9 a.m., he announced over the intercom that teachers should read it and pay attention.

In the memo, titled “Election Results,” Lee wrote, “We may have many students who show signs of anxiety particularly around the issue of immigration. If you see that students are seriously distressed, to the point that they are impaired, please refer them to the counselors.”

Lee suggested the teachers hold a check-in circle but not start a debate. He suggested history teachers begin conversations on how government works, the next steps and the Supreme Court and…