SFUSD to review allegations that organization may have violated policies amid Israel-Hamas protest

San Francisco School leaders say they will now review allegations that an organization may have violated district policies by helping to organize a pro-Palestinian protest earlier this year.

Hundreds of San Francisco Unified School District students walked out of class on October 18 to bring attention to calls for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and to denounce the bombing of Gaza.

Now, SF Guardians, a local group says they have concerns about how the protest was organized and who actually organized it.

“I think we fully support the right of students to go out and protest and speak in favor of what they passionately believe in. What we have an issue when there are adults involved who are organizing the protest that is in violation of their contract,” said Autumn Looijen with the SF Guardians.

Looijen previously led a successful recall campaign against three school board members. Now, she and the group are calling for an investigation of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center or AROC.

“We sent a letter a few days ago to the school district outlining many violations that our district contractor called AROC had,” said Shiva Raj with SF Guardians.

Raj and others are also asking that the district suspends its contract with AROC while the district investigates.

NBC Bay Area reached out to AROC which did not directly respond to the allegations but released a statement.

“AROC absolutely supported the students who decided to walk out on October 18 demanding a ceasefire.” They added that they were "grateful to be in dialogue with the district, parents and teacher about this brave act of civil disobedience.”

In the meantime, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Unified School District released the following statement on Friday:

“It is our priority to ensure students and staff feel safe and supported in schools. We will provide a response once we have had a chance to carefully review the letter.”