A Washington father is demanding answers after discovering his teenage son had left school grounds to attend an ICE protest — without his knowledge or consent.
Vance Glawe confronted the Highline School Board on Wednesday, accusing district leaders of putting his child at risk when teachers allowed students to participate in a Feb. 2 walkout tied to protests over United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
Hundreds of students in the Seattle-area district reportedly took part in the walkout, according to the Seattle Times. Some parents supported the protest. Glawe was not one of them.
During the board meeting, Glawe delivered a fiery two-minute address that quickly went viral after being posted on X by LibsofTikTok. Dressed in a suit, he made it clear he believes the district crossed a legal line.
“My name is Vance Glawe and on the afternoon of February 2, 2026, my 14 year old child called me. He was not at school. He was not sick. He was in the middle of White Center, Washington, in the middle of a protest that was organized for his middle school,” Glawe told board members.
Glawe said he drove to the protest to remove his seventh-grade son from the scene. He argued that under Washington law and the state’s parental rights protections, the school had a duty to inform him before allowing his child to leave campus.
“RCW 28A 600035, by allowing them to leave and under Initiative 2081, the parental Bill of Rights, I have the right to know where my child goes,” Glawe said. “That was taken from me. I was not given notice. I was not given an email. I was not given a call. You exposed him to real danger. That’s neglect and that’s endangerment.”
In social media posts following the meeting, including on Instagram, Glawe said the school’s principal, Emily Feldtmose, only informed parents about the protest after it had already happened.
“Nobody informed me that my child was going to enter a protest,” Glawe says in the video.
Feldtmose did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The controversy has extended beyond the boardroom. Glawe said his son has faced backlash from other students after video of the confrontation circulated online. He launched a GiveSendGo fundraiser to help cover legal expenses and potentially relocate his family.
“I’m going to need some help with legal fees and relocation since I am now receiving death threats and I don’t feel my son is safe in this area anymore,” Glawe wrote on the fundraiser page.
In a Feb. 4 update, he added, “I cannot bring my son back to school because kids are threatening to jump my son because of my video.”
Glawe has stated he intends to pursue legal action, arguing that the district violated his parental rights and placed his child in harm’s way. The incident has reignited debate over how schools handle student activism — and whether parents are being sidelined when political events intersect with the classroom.
