Students helped shape a resolution under consideration by Evergreen Public Schools’ board regarding the rights of undocumented students and protocols for responding to immigration enforcement.
A Jan. 21 directive from the Department of Homeland Security opened the door for immigration officers to detain people in previously protected places, including schools. In response, Clark County school districts sent letters home to families and continue to create policies around the issue.
“Our students should not have to worry about the potential impacts of immigration enforcement, but instead, should be concentrating on learning in their classrooms,” Evergreen Public Schools Interim Superintendent Christine Moloney said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “Their voices affirm what we stand for as a district.”
Moloney said she and board members visited student groups, including Mountain View High School’s Latino Club, to discuss their concerns regarding immigration, Evergreen’s policies and the draft resolution.
From those discussions, the board revised the resolution and presented it at Tuesday’s workshop.
Jamila Singleton, Evergreen’s director of student equity and family engagement, provided the board with a list of items students wanted to see in the resolution, which affirms the rights of undocumented students and outlines protocols for responding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
One of those items is disciplinary action for staff who disclose such personal information as a student’s immigration status. The board then added a paragraph stating, “We direct the superintendent to apply disciplinary proceedings where policies have been violated.”
The board added a section in the resolution about actively monitoring campuses for unauthorized individuals on school property.
“I will speak on behalf of the students and the group,” Singleton said. “I think they’ll be really encouraged to know that their voice was incorporated.”
The board sent the draft for legal review before a vote on the resolution March 11.
Board members planned to vote on the resolution at their Feb. 11 meeting but delayed because nearly 20 students, parents and community members testified about it during public comment.
On Feb. 4, Moloney adopted the Limiting Immigration Enforcement in Schools policy, which correlates with the resolution. The policy states, “Evergreen Public Schools does not grant permission for any person engaging in, or intending to engage in, immigration enforcement, including surveillance, to access the non-public areas of school facilities, property, equipment, databases, or otherwise on school grounds or their immediate vicinity.”
Vancouver Public Schools’ newly adopted Immigrant and Refugee Students, Families, and Staff policy also follows that guideline and provides detailed definitions and information on how staff should respond to immigration officers.
“Staff will immediately report receipt of any information request relating to immigration enforcement to the principal who shall document the request and refer the request to the superintendent and legal counsel,” the policy states.
Editor’s note: The date for voting on the resolution has been updated.
