30-01-2025
Immigration agents at schools? Tampa Bay schools get prepared
Word spread quickly across social media Jan. 24 that federal immigration agents had come to Clearwater High School.
A Facebook post that garnered hundreds of shares, comments and reactions alleged that agents showed up 'looking for someone,' but were turned away by staff. More rumors surfaced later that similar things had happened at Dunedin High School and King High School in east Tampa.
School district and law enforcement officials said the incidents never took place. A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said such false reports have cropped up across the nation.
But the idea that an immigration enforcement action might take place at a school, which until only days earlier had been considered a 'protected area' by the Department of Homeland Security, sent chills through Tampa Bay.
Anevay Norris, who works for a Pinellas County nonprofit social services agency, said about half of the teens on her caseload have undocumented family members. Some attend Clearwater High. She called them to make sure they were OK, and heard rising concern about what the Trump administration is going to mean to their families.
'It's real right now,' Norris said.
Pinellas High Innovation history teacher Brandt Robinson on Tuesday urged the Pinellas school board and superintendent to reassure the public that the children are safe, 'no matter who they are.'
'There is a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety out there,' Robinson said.
That message has come through loud and clear to Tampa Bay area school officials, who are fielding concerned calls and emails from parents and principals. Several residents spoke out on the scenario at Tuesday's Hillsborough County school board meeting.
After researching their legal obligations, the districts this week sent schools memos stressing the need to preserve student privacy and respect parents' rights even as they comply with the law.
'We have a responsibility just like everybody else to follow the law,' Pinellas schools superintendent Kevin Hendrick said. 'We're not agents of law. We protect our students the best we can.'
The worries spiked after the White House issued a statement rescinding the Biden administration's 2021 stance on ICE actions in what had been called 'sensitive' or 'protected' areas such as schools. In short order, several national education organizations issued advisories on possible responses to the shifting political sands.
The Florida Department of Education quickly asserted it would cooperate with the federal effort 'to enforce the nation's laws on illegal immigration and keep our schools safe.'
Florida's reaction differed from some other states. Illinois issued a lengthy advisory to its districts stating that the federal changes do not necessarily require schools to alter their actions. The Illinois State Board of Education stated that its guiding principle would be ensuring schools are a 'safe haven' for all students.
Oklahoma, by contrast, advanced a rule requiring families to present proof of citizenship or immigration status when enrolling in school, to help with the federal enforcement.
With federal and state pressure mounting, Tampa Bay school officials felt compelled to weigh in. Schools do not collect students' citizenship status, in accordance with a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and few if any in the region have had visits from immigration agents in decades.
'We give our schools guidance on a variety of topics as things make the news or become of interest,' said Hendrick, whose legal department on Monday sent principals a two-page memo detailing how to deal with requests from immigration officials. 'We want to make sure our schools are supported.'
The Hillsborough County schools chief of staff sent an advisory on the matter to principals late Tuesday. The Pasco County school district, meanwhile, reminded campus leaders to follow the system's longstanding policy on working with law enforcement including ICE.
The districts stressed the confidentiality of student records, the right of parents to participate in any interviews and the importance of having updated emergency contacts for children whose caretakers might not be available.
The Pasco policy, which is similar to Hillsborough's guidance, says a school administrator such as the principal should stay in the room if federal agents are interviewing a student as a witness to an alleged law violation, unless the officer provides 'compelling reasons.'
The child's parents should be informed of the questioning, the policy states. The building administrator should try to reach the parents first, and remain in the room, again unless compelling reasons are offered.
Pasco also calls for agencies to contact students during non-school hours and investigate away from school property 'if at all possible.' It allows for immediate investigations on campus during school hours 'if the alleged violation of law took place on school property, involves other situations affecting school safety or in emergency situations.'
Pinellas aims to draw a fine line between protecting students and abiding law enforcement. David Koperski, the district's lawyer, told the school board that federal immigration authorities have 'very broad investigative authority' that schools must respect.
His first advice to principals is to contact a school district lawyer if an ICE agent seeks access to campus.
The memo runs through a couple of anticipated scenarios. They include requests for student records, requests to talk to students and learning a student's parents have been detained.
The district notes that most student records are confidential and should not be released without written parental permission. Exceptions include when the information is ordered released through a court, warrant or subpoena, and in case of a health or safety emergency.
The district acknowledges that certain federal laws allow for the interrogation and arrest of a non-citizen under some circumstances, even without a warrant. Like Pasco, the district calls on schools to reach out to parents, but also recommends 'cooperating with an agent's request within the bounds of the law.'
In the instance of a students' family being detained, Pinellas and Hillsborough recommend schools should act as they do any time they learn a child will be without a caretaker. That includes reaching out to other emergency contacts the family has provided.
'We do all we can to protect our students,' Hillsborough superintendent Van Ayres said.
If all else fails, the Pinellas memo states, the school might have to contact the state Department of Children and Families.
Lee Bryant, president of the Pinellas teachers union, urged his school board to reassure families of their safety at school by adopting a safe zone resolution that would set clear rules for if immigration agents come to campuses seeking access to students or their data.
'If a student does not feel safe at school, they cannot be expected to learn,' Bryant said.
Times staff writers Juan-Carlos Chavez and Jack Evans contributed to this report.
