As tensions rise nationwide amid the Trump Administration’s aggressive immigration initiatives, the Sarasota County School Board is urging families to trust that their students are still safe in schools.
Members of the School Board insisted at a recent workshop that Sarasota County Schools are still offer a safe learning environment as national changes to immigration policy unfold. The conversation last Tuesday came after the Trump Administration rescinded a longstanding federal policy protecting sensitive spaces like schools and churches from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests, interviews and searches.
Federal officials haven’t issued data on whether ICE raids have taken place at schools, but residents of major cities such as New York and Chicago have reported an increase in activity. A middle school teacher in Miami-Dade County who has lived in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals will likely face deportation after being detained by ICE officials Friday.
With school districts and educational organizations across the state and country releasing guidelines on potential ICE action, local families and residents called on the Sarasota School Board to issue a policy or statement of its own. A letter obtained by the Herald-Tribune from Support Our Schools, a local education advocacy group, requested the district publicly release formal guidance to address concerns.
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“Support Our Schools believes that the Sarasota County School district is duty-bound to protect all children, including immigrant students, from harassment,” the letter stated. “To date, Superintendent Terry Connor and the Sarasota County School Board have not provided guidance to parents/guardians, students, teachers, and Sarasota County residents about the district’s policies and protocol.”
Though the district has not made a formal statement, Superintendent Terry Connor said the district’s top priority is student safety and that parents should feel comfortable sending their students to school.
“The best place for a child in this school district is in Sarasota County schools,” Connor said during a workshop. “We encourage families who are having any feelings of intimidation or if they’re scared or fearful to be in school.”
The district’s current policy mandates that ICE or any law enforcement agency needs a warrant to enter a school, which the district’s legal counsel would have to verify before allowing officers on school grounds. The district also doesn’t track immigration status in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The district isn’t revising this policy or changing procedure in light of the national policy developments, Connor said. Principals across the district received notice of the guidelines in the past week, he said.
“This is business as usual for us in terms of how we handle situations with law enforcement,” Connor said. “Those are what we’re going to continue to do, and that’s sufficient.”
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Board member Bridget Ziegler echoed Connor’s assertions, noting that the district’s commitment to safety hasn’t changed. As reports on the potential for ICE activity continue to spread, Ziegler said the headlines shouldn’t foster panic.
“We really don’t have time for the unnecessary fear-mongering,” Ziegler said. “There are real consequences to breaking the law, but that is not our purview. Our purview is ensuring our children and staff are safe while they’re on school grounds.”
School districts across the country have noted widespread uncertainty and drops in attendance as parents grapple with ICE concerns, a trend board member Liz Barker said she’s heard is happening locally. She said parents have asked her if they should send their students to school with passports, and she’s heard of parents keeping their students away from school entirely.
Barker encouraged the board to continue conversations about guidelines and communicate with families about its policy. She said she’s confident the district will balance its legal obligations with student safety, but as new policies are implemented, Barker said it’s important for the district to stay up to date.
“We will work within the bounds of the law, but we will prioritize students and families within the bounds of the law,” Barker said. “In order to do that, we have to have a clear understanding of what the law is right now, and it’ll change.”
Board member Tom Edwards said he’s talked with local legislators regarding the issue. It’s his understanding, he said, that ICE agents would only enter a school if they found an employee of the school was an undocumented immigrant and won’t detain students.
“We don’t want children to have to witness any kind of behavior that would be pejorative to another child,” Edwards said. “The current view of coming into schools for children is not on the table, completely not on the table.”
Contact Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.