Advertisement Hundreds of students protest Trump victory Scores of students at several Des Moines Public Schools walked out of class in protest of election results Wednesday morning. Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Scores of students at several Des Moines Public Schools walked out of class in protest of election results Wednesday morning. Many could be seen carrying signs at East and Roosevelt high schools, protesting the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. At Valley High School in West Des Moines, Vice Principal David Maxwell said Wednesday that students were given about 15 minutes to protest before they had to return to class. Maxwell said some did return, some didn’t. There were no reports of violence at any of the protests. Des Moines Public Schools released the following statement: Students at high schools throughout Des Moines took part in a protest this morning to voice their concerns about the outcome of last night’s presidential election. Our students have the right to be heard. Des Moines, after all, was the beginning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Tinker decision, which ruled their rights to speech are constitutionally protected at school. The majority of students at Des Moines Public Schools are students of color. They represent more than 100 different nations. More than one out of five students are English Language Learners. The rhetoric of this past election has caused many concerns and divisions among them, their friends and their families. The school district will not stand in the way of our students peacefully expressing their concerns. The district is also not making changes to the school day at high schools, and classes and the schedule will continue as normal. At the same time, this year’s election has been a lesson and reminder that our democracy is not always easy and the results do not always turn out as you might hope. That has been true throughout our history. But regardless of whatever their political positions might be, we hope our students will continue to be engaged and speak out on issues that matter to them, and that all of us will do more to listen to each other.