Students at Clayton Valley High School staged a protest March 4 to call attention to funding needs – just days before the Mt. Diablo Unified School District approved $48.7 million in cuts and sent out 200 pink slips.

Clayton Valley was among schools statewide to hold a Day of Action “disaster drill” to get students and teachers out and shut down the school, ever so briefly, in a show of unity that the cuts are no longer tolerated.

While hoards of people rallied in the streets in San Francisco and Berkeley, black-clad Clayton Valley students filed out into the front parking lot on Alberta Way. A group of students stood just outside the main entrance, waving handmade signs and parading around with duct tape over their mouths. Drivers of passing cars honked enthusiastically in support.

“I was really proud of my kids who participated,” said history teacher Jenny DeAngelis. “It made me feel less helpless to see so many of my students caring about our school, especially the Arts Academy kids.”

The majority of the sign-bearing protesters were Clayton Arts Academy students, who continued protesting further down the street after the “all clear” sent students back to class. They accepted truancy as a sacrifice for the cause.

“Parents and others need to know this is not about a bunch of people complaining; this is money coming out of their pockets,” said chemistry teacher Ken Cambier, who was holding a protest sign.

“There will be more money that you have to pay to keep your kids in school. There’s more money that you have to pay to keep your kids in sports,” he added.

The district cuts included $31 million by reducing the school year and benefits, $8.4 million from special education, $4.5 million from programs such as adult education, $3.6 million from reducing support staff hours and $1.2 million through minimizing graduation requirements and summer school.

“We need more money for the schools. They are cutting everything and it’s really annoying,” said CVHS junior Shelby Heifetz, who is blind. “I don’t get that much special treatment. I get money for my Braille stuff and tools that keep me in school.”

DeAngelis called the Day of Action a success compared with Pink Friday, held last year on March 13. That protest consisted of wearing the color pink, representing pink slips, but it went largely unnoticed by the student body.

However, many students were disappointed that the rumored plan of evacuating to the nearby Lucky store was abandoned in favor of staying on campus to protest. Others complained about being forced to stand out in the chilly wind for 15 minutes with nothing to do.

“At first I thought that it was going to be a legitimate effort, but it turned out to be pointless,” said sophomore Zoey Dow. “All we did was stand around. Overall, it was a disappointment.”

Though not in the ClaytonArts Academy, junior Greg Fogg and his friend Tyler Falls continued the protest off-campus. “We figured that going in front of Lucky in the median and yelling at cars to honk would grab more attention,” Fogg said. Looking ahead, Cambier expressed concern for cuts to programs for students who aren’t college-bound. “The welding, the machine shop, the auto shop, the metal shop – if all those go, this not only affects just a few teachers, it affects everybody,” he said.

School board members said the layoff notices are preliminary and will be finalized when the district has a better idea of the final state budget in May.

Meanwhile, the district voted to move forward with a $348 million facilities bond measure in June. It would help fund solar projects and facilities improvements.

Mike Dunn contributed to this story.