In gentle of latest insurance policies below the Trump administration permitting ICE brokers to raid and make arrests inside faculties and different delicate areas, the Massachusetts AG launched steerage for the state’s faculties to guard all college students’ proper to a free public schooling no matter citizenship standing.
“The Office of the Attorney General has heard concerns from school administrators and others about how potential changes to federal immigration policies might affect their students, communities, and classrooms,” AG Andrea Campbell wrote to varsities.
“This guidance describes some of the issues that might impact immigrant students in K-12 schools, and describes some of the schools’ legal obligations as well as steps they can take to support students and families and maintain an environment conducive to learning for all,” she added.
Dated Friday, the AG steerage contains college students’ authorized rights and what to do if federal immigration brokers request info or entry to college students. The doc notes that the steerage just isn’t authorized recommendation or the formal authorized opinion of the AG.
The AG’s launch follows a federal coverage change throughout the first week below the Trump administration, permitting ICE brokers to enter and make arrests in delicate areas like faculties, hospitals and non secular establishments.
“We are really clear about schools’ obligations to protect students and their information, because this is a strong component of protecting students’ education information at the heart of it as well,” DESE Performing Commissioner Russell Johnston mentioned throughout a Board of Elementary and Secondary Training assembly Tuesday morning.
Requested if the federal coverage change could also be impacting attendance attributable to immigrants’ college students issues about coming to high school, Johnston mentioned the division doesn’t have the info but however is continuous to trace it.
The state schooling division will host webinars on the steerage with the AG’s workplace for district and faculty officers.
In Boston, each the BPS superintendent and Mayor Michelle Wu spoke on insurance policies defending college students in gentle of latest ICE insurance policies. Wu reiterated that no unauthorized adults are allowed on faculty property in a WGBH interview Monday.
If an ICE agent seeks entry to college students, the AG’s steerage states, officers ought to refer them to the district’s central workplace, notify their mother and father or guardians, and get in touch with the district’s authorized counsel.
If the brokers try to take away a scholar from a classroom, faculties should see written consent from a father or mother or guardian or a legitimate federal or state warrant. Within the case of a legitimate warrant, the college ought to contact authorized counsel instantly, the steerage directs.
Faculties are additionally chargeable for defending college students’ private knowledge, the doc states, and there are slender circumstances during which a faculty could give college students’ info to 3rd events, like ICE brokers, with out particular father or mother or guardian consent. Exceptions embrace judicial warrants or subpoenas, schooling division officers’ authorized requests, and well being and security emergencies.
“If a staff member believes an exception may apply in any given situation, they should contact the district superintendent immediately and wait for their instructions before making any disclosure,” the steerage says. “School superintendents should consult legal counsel to ensure they are adhering to student privacy laws.”
The AG’s doc additionally recommends faculties take into account revising enrollment insurance policies to additional defend college students’ knowledge.
“As a general matter, schools should not collect for enrollment purposes or maintain documents that contain passport information, visa information, and Social Security numbers,” the steerage states. “This information is not necessary to confirm age or residency and collecting it creates additional data protection obligations, and risks deterring enrollment on the basis of immigration or citizenship status.”
The AG additionally offers steerage for aiding households involved about their immigration standing in gentle of the brand new insurance policies.
“As part of a school district’s broader planning efforts relating to circumstances that might make it unsafe for a child to return home, they should prepare for the event in which a parent is arrested or detained by ICE,” the steerage states.
The AG’s steerage directs households to the “Emergency Planning Guide for Parents with Uncertain Immigration Status” and to seek out additional help by calling the Civil Rights Division of the Workplace of the Lawyer Basic.
