Princeton Schools shares comprehensive response to ICE agents. What about other local schools?

Yahoo

30-01-2025

Adelaide Kruse, a science teacher at Aiken New Tech High School, said half of her students have stopped coming to school since President Donald Trump authorized immigration enforcement on school property.
"And the students who are there, are honestly too scared to learn," she told the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education during a Monday school board meeting.
The district serves about 35,000 students, and more than 1 in 10 of them are learning English because they don't speak it as their first language. At Kruse's school, about 1 in 5 students are English language learners. She asked the district: What's the policy if government agents come knocking on her school's door asking about undocumented students?
More: Cincinnati teachers report low attendance, say students are 'living in fear' of ICE
Just one of the region's 64 public school districts − Princeton City Schools − has a comprehensive plan for how school staff will respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and how to support immigrant students in crisis, an Enquirer survey of local districts shows. At Princeton, ICE agents can't talk to students unless they have a judicial warrant issued by a federal or magistrate judge, and that warrant has the child's name "clearly and correctly spelled." Even in that case, students won't be released into anyone's custody until the school has contacted that student's parent and the district's legal counsel OKs it.
More: One-third or more students at these schools don't speak English as their first language
The director of English language learner services at Princeton also told teachers in her department how they can support students who are scared. Princeton was proactive in their approach, spokesperson Tricia Roddy said, because they heard from families worried about potential changes to immigration enforcement earlier this school year, during community listening sessions. Princeton serves families in Springdale, a northern suburb of Cincinnati where many immigrant families live. More than 1,400 students at Princeton are English language learners, or 1 in 4 students districtwide.
More than 10 years ago, Roddy said, some of the district's students came home from school one day to find their parents missing after a local ICE raid. So, the fear of ICE arrests for Princeton families is very real, she said.
"We just wanted to make sure that everything is in place," Roddy said. "That we have plans, that we know that our kids are going to be taken care of. And if, heaven forbid, that happens, that our teachers and our staff and administrators have a plan to make sure our kids are safe."
There have not been any known incidents of government officials arresting undocumented immigrants at schools in or around Cincinnati since Trump's administration authorized ICE agents to make arrests at "sensitive locations" like schools, churches and hospitals. Those spaces were previously protected from ICE enforcement, but Trump's administration rescinded that protection during his first day in office, on Jan. 20.
Cincinnati Public Schools and most other districts in the region shared generic guidance with The Enquirer about what rules are in place to protect students from law enforcement on campus. Government agents need written legal warrants to interrogate students at school, for instance. Most didn't go into any detail about what that means for school staff, or if any training has been provided.
More: Teacher tells ICE to visit high school where many students 'don't even speak English'
And several districts said they don't have any protocols at all in place for when an ICE agent shows up at their school.
"We will follow what the agents ask us to do," Michael Sander, superintendent of Franklin City Schools, wrote in an email to The Enquirer.
The Enquirer's survey asked 64 public K-12 school districts in Ohio's Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties and Kentucky's Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties about how they are responding to the new ICE authorization. Most said they haven't noticed significant changes in student attendance.
"There has been no noticeable change in overall attendance, and the district is unaware of any federal agents having shown up in our school district related to immigration matters," Boone County Schools spokesperson Barbara Brady wrote in a statement.
Government agents, including local law enforcement and ICE representatives, can't enter schools without warrants.
At Mason City Schools, spokesperson Tracey Carson said that means staff immediately contact district leadership if government officials arrive on school grounds, and district legal counsel reviews those officials' judicial warrants before any further action.
Districts also follow the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which keeps student records private. School officials can't disclose student records without prior written consent from a parent or guardian unless a court order, subpoena or health or safety emergency warrants it.
But with the right documentation, agents can arrest students on school grounds, according to information the local law firm Ennis Britton Co., L.P.A. sent to Oak Hills Local Schools. Administrative arrests or removal warrants, like I-200 or I-205 forms, issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, aren't judicial warrants and don't authorize officers to enter school grounds without consent. But school staff who don't know the difference could unknowingly cooperate and provide that permission even if agents don't have the proper forms.
Some school districts – including Reading Community City Schools, Southwest Local Schools, Finneytown Local Schools, St. Bernard-Elmwood Place City Schools, and Oak Hills Local School District – added that they are reinforcing established security protocols with all office staff for added safety.
Taking things a step further, Princeton City Schools shared several documents with The Enquirer that detail a step-by-step plan district staff will follow if ICE agents come to their schools, advice for teachers to share with worried students and a list of resources administrators have on hand to help immigrant families in need.
This route is best practice, according to the information from attorneys at Ennis Britton. School districts should make internal plans for how to respond to ICE agents, including a review of board policies where applicable and making sure any school staff that interacts with an ICE agent documents the encounter.
Elgin Card, superintendent of Princeton City Schools, emailed his staff after Trump took office to assure them that administrators at each school building have procedures in place "to handle law enforcement situations," and they have a list of resources available for parents and students in case of a crisis.
The district shared a document with The Enquirer that outlines its action plan for interactions with ICE agents. If ICE agents enter any campus or administrative building, according to the procedures, the following applies:
ICE agents will be contained to a public area, like a school entrance vestibule or main office. "ICE agents are not to be allowed beyond these points."
School staff will immediately inform the principal, assigned designee and a school resource officer and "begin documentation of encounter," including the date, time and location of the encounter, the names and badge numbers of the agents and what the agents are requesting.
The school's principal or assigned designee will immediately contact the superintendent's office and request legal counsel report to where the ICE agents are. The building principal or assigned designee "are the only people allowed to communicate with the ICE agents." Teachers, students, paraprofessionals and other school staff are not allowed to speak with ICE agents on school grounds.
An ICE agent's request to interview or detain a student is only valid if they have a judicial warrant issued by a federal or magistrate judge, and that warrant has the child's name "clearly and correctly spelled."
If the warrant is considered valid, school staff will make a copy of the warrant for their records. The school will notify the student's parents or legal guardians.
Students can't be released into anyone's custody before the school has made contact with their parent or guardian. "Do not release the student into ICE custody until legal counsel gives consent to do so," Princeton's protocols state in bold font.
Card also wrote a message to district families about changes to the federal immigration policy, and encouraged students experiencing "fear, stress, or anxiety" related to these changes to reach out to their school-based mental health professional or principal.
Kelli Perrin, director of English learner services at Princeton, even emailed teachers in her department with suggestions on how to appropriately comfort students. Here's what she suggested:
Assure students that "the school is a safe place." Students can ask for help and resources if they need them.
Let students know that, per FERPA, their information is safe at school.
Make sure students are aware of their emergency resources: "Knowing who to contact, where to find important information, and what resources to access in an emergency is beneficial for every child and every family."
Own what you don't know: "There are some questions we simply do not have an answer to because there are unknowns that exist. What we can focus on is what we can control. Attendance, behavior, and academics are all in the student's locus of control when attending school."
Students should know their trusted adults in the building, and talk to them.
Perrin said a districtwide seminar "to create family safety plans" is coming.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Schools prepare for immigration raids, teachers say kids are scared