Two and a half months after police officers picked up a Briarwood Elementary student and took him to Division of Child and Family Services in Olathe after his mother was detained by immigration officials, the Shawnee Mission board of education on Monday unanimously approved a resolution on the rights of students.
The resolution, which was developed in collaboration with Kansas City-based Latino community advocacy group El Centro, seeks to solidify the district’s protocols regarding immigration officials’ contact with students, saying that there are “methods of pursuing enforcement that do not include the interrupting of the sanctity of the school environment.”
Director of Safety and Security John Douglass said he had been approached by a number of patrons in the wake of the Briarwood incident, who asked him to commit the district to a policy that would assuage the fears of families who may be concerned about immigration enforcement. Douglass said his position is that, as a governmental agency, the district cannot flout the law — but that it could work within the boundaries of the law to foster an environment where students and their families felt safe.
“Governmental agencies have to walk a very straight line,” Douglass said. “Political opinions come and they go, and they pull and they tug from both sides. But political opinions cannot be persuasive to governmental entities in picking sides… But it doesn’t mean we cannot take care of the people we are directly responsible to take care of.”
Still, Douglass said, the district had an obligation to clearly communicate that the school system viewed its primary objective as giving all students, “no matter how they got here,” the chance for an excellent education.
“There are many ways to enforce our immigration laws,” Douglass said. “School is not a place for it.”
It’s not clear, however, that the resolution would have done anything to alter the outcome of the Briarwood incident in February. The resolution clearly states that immigration officers are not permitted on school property without prior notification and identification. It was not immigration enforcement officers, though, who were tasked with transporting the student to the DCFS offices. Instead, the boy was picked up by municipal police officers — a move that American Civil Liberties Union attorney Doug Bonney has argued should not have been made until officials attempted to contact the student’s father, who Bonney said was available to retrieve him.
The resolution notably states that “parents will be contacted when deemed appropriate by law enforcement. Emergency contacts will be utilized when parents are unavailable.”
Board member Cindy Neighbor asked Douglass to clarify the district’s position on who school administrators reach out to in the event that a parent cannot come to pick up a child. She said she understood that it was the district’s policy to contact everyone on forms parents are encouraged to fill out with emergency contacts prior to the start of a school year. Douglass confirmed that was the case.
“We have, in our enrollment packet, a strong request for people to fill out the emergency contact,” he said. “And we also have enrollment in Spanish…Part of what we’re going to work on is to work with our families to make sure that everybody understand the importance of having an emergency contact. Because if you don’t have an emergency contact, and you can’t provide for that child at the end of the day, there is very little that we can do, except as a child in need of care.”
The full resolution, which was read in its entirety by board member Deb Zila at the meeting Monday, is copied below:
Resolution
Rights of Students and Protocols for the Shawnee Mission School District
Be it resolved
That the Board of Education of the Shawnee Mission School District is committed to the success of each and every student in our school system. The mission of the Shawnee Mission School District is to provide an education which fully prepares each student to compete successfully in society and be fully prepared to make productive life decisions. We believe that each and every student has the potential to achieve and that it is the responsibility of our school district to identify, nurture, and support that potential. In order to do that, we respect and insist on a conducive educational environment.
That the Board believes that the physical safety and emotional well-being of all children in the district depends upon our ensuring that our schools are safe and inviting for all students and their families. The Shawnee Mission School District does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, or bullying (Policies AD, JDDC, and JGECA).
That the Board of Education believes that a safe and inviting environment would be disrupted by the presence of active immigration and naturalization enforcement occurring at a school and during school hours. We also recognize there are other methods of pursuing enforcement that do not include the interrupting of the sanctity of the school environment. The Board calls upon the Department of Homeland Security to honor its directive of October 24, 2011, (Policy #10029.2) prohibiting active enforcement at sensitive locations which includes schools, absent severe exigent circumstances.
That the Board of Education recognizes actions which place a child into a status of child in need of care as defined by state law (K.S.A. 38-2202) may under some circumstances require that the child be placed into the custody of either state, local or district police. Should this occur, all efforts must be taken to minimize any traumatic effects on the child.
Consequently, it is the direction of the Board of Education:
That any immigration and naturalization service (INS) employee whose job responsibilities require that he or she enter any school or district building for the purpose of immigration enforcement must first notify the office of the superintendent with sufficient time so that the superintendent or his/her designee can take the proper steps to provide for the emotional and
physical safety of the students and staff.
That the superintendent or his/her designee will require official identification of the agents and a written documentation by an authorized governmental official requiring the removal of any child.
It is the policy of the Shawnee Mission School District not to ask about nor provide information about a student’s immigration status or that of family members and, pursuant to FERPA, the District will not disclose student information or records without parent consent or a court order.
In the event that circumstances dictate that a student is subject to the provisions of the child in need of care state statute, parents will be contacted when deemed appropriate by law enforcement. Emergency contacts will be utilized when parents are unavailable.
All care will be given toward the emotional well-being of students.
