Anti-ICE advocates call for Harmony teacher's reinstatement
A small group of anti-ICE protesters called for the reinstatement of fired Harmony School of Innovation English teacher Steve Gaines at a noontime rally Friday near the Waco school.
The protest was sparked by Gaines' dismissal early this month, a firing he said was because he allowed students to make posters and signs in his class for a Feb. 5 student protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Gaines, 42, attended Friday's protest held on the sidewalk fronting the Harmony parking lot at 1110 S. Valley Mills Drive, but said he knows his rehiring is a longshot, given his teaching contract with Harmony and limited resources to hire legal counsel. Harmony Public Schools spokesperson John Boyd did not reply to a request for comment on Gaines' dismissal.
The local Harmony student protest, slightly larger than the roughly 15 people at Friday's demonstration in support of Gaines, was part of a wave of high school student walk-outs and protests held across the country in the aftermath of the January killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement officials during a massive immigration enforcement effort.
Texas student demonstrations drew a quick and strict rebuke from Gov. Greg Abbott, and the Texas Education Agency warned that public school districts viewed as supporting or aiding such protests could run the risk of state takeover. That threat, which came after University and Waco High School students had held demonstrations alongside other Texas schools, led Midway students to cancel plans for a similar protest Feb. 6. Students in the La Vega and Lorena school districts and Rapoport Academy also moved their public protests to off-campus locations and after school hours.
Gaines had taught at Waco High School for six years and Midway High School for one before joining Harmony two years ago, where he taught a range of English classes from remedial to honors. He moved to Waco about 20 years ago to study auto mechanics at Texas State Technical College. Auto repair did not prove a good fit, and the need for sustained employment and a steady salary led him into teaching.
Gaines earned a bachelor's degree in English and communications from Texas Tech University through McLennan Community College's University Center and got his teaching certification through the Region 12 Education Service Center.
On the day of the Harmony student protests, Gaines said he had provided materials for students wanting to create posters and flyers, but his principal's email to faculty warning against any encouragement or participation in student demonstrations arrived mid-morning. When students walked out that afternoon before the end of school, he remained in his classroom.
Roughly a month later, he was fired, effective immediately, for providing materials for the protest, he said.
His account of the event made to local news media several weeks ago prompted Friday's rally in his support, organized by the Waco Friends of the Climate and also attended by several red-shirted Waco members of the Waco branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Protesters stood behind a banner calling for Gaines' reinstatement and waved anti-ICE signs, some pulled from a plastic container of premade signs, with passing motorists occasionally honking in support or disagreement.
The former Harmony teacher said he appreciates the support shown by the rally, some students and teachers. He said he sees the issue now not as a protest against ICE, but a broader one of free speech and the First Amendment.
He said he is looking for work, but mid-spring open teaching positions are rare and he is not sure if his teaching certificate has been affected by Harmony's dismissal.
"I'm trying to figure it out in a very uncertain time," Gaines said.
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This story was originally published March 22, 2026 at 4:42 AM.