A Pennsylvania high school principal is facing widespread backlash on social media after telling parents that the school is collaborating with students on an anti–United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest.
Mattias van ’t Hoenderdaal, the principal at Quakertown Community High School, emailed families Tuesday, Feb. 17, regarding an upcoming student-led walkout. Although some schools have distanced themselves from walkouts, van ’t Hoenderdaal made it clear that the administration had spoken with student leaders to “establish clear boundaries.”
Van ’t Hoenderdaal requested that parents and community members stay away from campus during the walkout, which would have included enhanced security. Additionally, the administration and security personnel would have ensured that students avoid high-traffic areas.
“Quakerstown Community High School supports safe student expression while prioritizing campus security,” van ’t Hoenderdaal said.
INBOX: Mattias van ‘t Hoenderdaal, principal of @OfficialQCHS in PA, sent an email to families informing them that school staff is COLLABORATING with students to organize an anti-ICE protest during school hours.
SHUT IT DOWN pic.twitter.com/QY24xb0qaj
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 19, 2026
A Libs of TikTok post on X sharing van ’t Hoenderdaal’s email had over 84,000 views in 15 hours. Jason Magditch, the 10th-grade House principal at QCHS, announced Friday morning that the student-led walkout was canceled.
“While we respect students’ rights to express their views, our first priority is to ensure a safe and secure environment for all,” Magditch wrote. “At this time, we believe canceling the protest is the most appropriate course of action in the interest of student safety and well-being.”
Magditch had not replied to an email seeking further comment, as well as clarification on what led to the protest’s cancellation, as of publication. The Quakertown Community School District also had not publicly addressed the situation as of publication.
Please read this important message from Dr. Jason Magditch, Class of 2028, House Principal at QCHS#quakertowncommunityhighschool #qcsd #quakertowncommunityschooldistrict pic.twitter.com/OKS1WXyUWW
— Quakertown Community High School (@OfficialQCHS) February 20, 2026
Social media users widely criticized van ’t Hoenderdaal not only for allowing the anti-ICE protest, but for acknowledging that the school was collaborating with student leaders. Although van ’t Hoenderdaal said that district policy mandates that students could not make up the missed work, he also wrote that students who stayed within the designated safety zones would not be disciplined for skipping class.
“It used to be a student would get sent to the principal’s office if they skipped school,” one X user argued. “Now, the principal writes them a free pass to do so. Something has gone terribly wrong.”
Another wrote, “This is reprehensible. If you permit students to not respect [law enforcement] then why would they respect teachers?”
What is up with all these school sponsored anti ICE protests? What on earth does that have to do with reading, writing and arithmetic? How are those test scores folks? https://t.co/saN6WDy844
— 🇺🇸 Rocco S. DeMaiolo 🇺🇸 (@tprroc) February 20, 2026
Multiple X users questioned whether a walkout is truly a walkout if the school signs off on it. However, the part that drew the most concern was a principal issuing a closed-campus order, which would theoretically prevent parents from taking their children out of school during the protest.
It is also worth noting that van ’t Hoenderdaal’s letter to parents did not specify the designated safe zones. A Florida minor was struck by a car this week and taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while participating in a protest near a high school. It was unclear whether that incident happened in what the school would have considered a designated safe zone.
“Make him let pro-ICE students walk out too during school,” an X user suggested. “If he refuses, sue them for viewpoint discrimination. That will end this nonsense once and for all.”
