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In response to community pressure and questions, the Jeffco school board approved a resolution late Thursday night in support of immigrant students.
Some community members have been afraid that immigration agents could come to a school since the Trump administration rescinded a policy that treated schools, churches, and hospitals as “sensitive” locations largely safe from ICE.
Since then, school districts across the country have been establishing or updating guidelines about what to do if ICE agents arrived at schools.
Jeffco Superintendent Tracy Dorland on Thursday reiterated that she believed it would be unlikely for ICE agents to show up at a school unannounced, but that the guidance from the district was created just in case.
“This resolution will not make everyone happy,” said board member Paula Reed. “There will be people who do not want us to assertively affirm protection for our most vulnerable students, and others who believe this does not do nearly enough. To be honest, personally, I wish we could do more. It was hard to draft something without referencing laws that may or may not still be in place tomorrow.”
The resolution, among other things, directs the district to help families create a plan to ensure emergency contacts are up to date, to update resources posted online and translate them into multiple languages, and to provide flexible options for families who are keeping children home from school out of fear.
The resolution states that “federal immigration law enforcement activities, on or around district property and transportation routes, whether by surveillance, interview, demand for information, arrest, detention, or any other means, harmfully disrupt the learning environment to which all students, regardless of immigration status, are entitled and significantly interferes with the ability of all students, including U.S. citizen students and students who hold other legal grounds for presence in the U.S., to access a free public K-12 education.”
Jeffco first posted a statement and guidance about ICE in schools on its website on Jan. 28, sending communications to all staff.
But Zander Kaschub, the president of JESPA, the union for Jeffco’s support staff including bus drivers, kitchen staff, and paraprofessionals, was among those who criticized the district for not doing more.
These employees are made up of immigrants, and work closely with immigrant students and families, and should be “recognized as key stakeholders and included in discussions on policy implementation,” Kaschub told the school board on Thursday. “Our voices are essential.”
Kaschub said staff members still have a lot of questions and have not received training. Principals also have been interpreting guidance in different ways, he said.
“This approach has created inconsistencies, confusion, and ultimately unsafe conditions for students and staff,” he said.
Kaschub added that the resolution left critical gaps and asked the board and the district to commit to training staff and ensuring there’s a method to hold principals accountable for enforcing policies.
A district spokesperson Friday said staff training has been ongoing, and it is continuing for bus drivers and more principal secretaries in the next week.
Annie Contractor, a parent and organizer with Engage Jeffco, also spoke to the board Thursday, asking them to pass the resolution and improve communications with staff and families.
“Some schools are sending out robust communications and some aren’t sending any communications at all,” Contractor said. “We ask the district to implement comprehensive policies that safeguard every student’s right to learn in a secure, stable environment.
“When any group is targeted, whether immigrant families, LGBTQ+ youth, or others, all students suffer from the resulting disruption, intimidation, and trauma of an insecure learning environment,” Contractor said. “Today’s targets may change tomorrow and we know that we are stronger when we stand together.”
The board made one change to the resolution — but it won’t affect the guidance
When the board voted Thursday night, they had a discussion to make just one change to the draft language they had already prepared, but a district spokesperson Friday said that language in the resolution won’t change the district’s policy or practice.
The draft resolution presented to the board Thursday said that the district guidance for principals was to allow ICE agents into a school, just as they would allow in anyone else, and then once the agents are identified, begin a process to verify that they have the proper warrants.
But board members said they thought they had understood their district’s existing guidance to mean that ICE agents would not be allowed into a building until after a warrant signed by a judge could be verified.
Dorland explained that there are many different situations, and “we don’t want to ever put our principals in a situation where they’re escalating a situation.”
Julie Tolleson, the district’s attorney, also explained that the district has a person ready to drive out to schools to “get eyes” on the presented warrants and documents in such a case, and that there was some concern about the disruption that might occur if agents were kept outside and the school was put on secure perimeter, where classes continue inside but the school is locked.
But a majority of the board members Thursday said they were uncomfortable with allowing agents into schools first because of the position it could put principals in — particularly if agents aren’t cooperative, don’t listen to staff, or if the agents don’t have proper warrants and then principals have to ask them to leave.
“I am concerned people executing these warrants will not be polite, " said Mary Parker, the board’s president.
The board amended the order of the instructions — to put verifying warrants before the guidance about escorting agents in — and then approved the resolution unanimously.
But on Friday, district leaders said that the amended resolution the board approved Thursday night will not change the district’s guidance. Jeffco principals will still be instructed to allow immigration agents into a school as they would with anyone else, and to verify their documentation once they are inside.
Schools have secure vestibules just inside, the spokesperson said.
Board member Erin Kenworthy on Friday said that the board’s intention was to change the district’s guidance for principals, but said she also recognized that the board technically approved a resolution, not a new policy. She said perhaps the board will need to revisit the issue later.
A recent Chalkbeat survey of 20 Colorado districts revealed 16 had issued written guidance to their staff about what to do if ICE arrived, and some had also communicated that with families. One district, St. Vrain, had not issued any written communications to staff, and three, Sheridan, Bennett, and Deer Trail, did not respond to Chalkbeat’s requests.
Many school districts, including Aurora and Denver, created guidance that tells principals to collect identification and warrants from ICE officials and contact district legal teams who would then verify the validity of the warrant and instruct school leaders further.
But guidance across systems varied slightly in terms of whether ICE agents would first be allowed inside the school during this process, or kept outside.
DSST charter network leaders established guidelines that schools would be placed on hold so no one is allowed in the hallways while the process of verifying a warrant takes place.
Denver’s guidance directs staff not to let agents into a school, but instead have them wait outside while contacting legal teams.
In Aurora’s guidance, district leaders also suggested that agents should wait outside, but allows principals to escort immigration agents into a quiet place in the front office, if they are being cooperative.
Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.
