The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“School hours are not your enforcement hours”
By Kendra Walker
During their January 26 meeting, the Gunnison Watershed School District school board reviewed the first reading of policy updates related to handling law enforcement, state agencies and federal immigration officials. And while superintendent Leslie Nichols shared with the Crested Butte News this week that it’s a mixed bag regarding student enrollment, the district has seen a slight drop of Gunnison students, “with some of that we believe due to immigrant families leaving Gunnison.”
Nichols presented the board with the district’s drafted written response to ICE or other federal agencies, to accompany policy KLG and regulation KLG-R. “We keep students safe in our schools. Our local law enforcement agencies have assured us that they do not support immigration activities at our schools,” it states.
Policy KLG – Relations with Law Enforcement and State Agencies reads, “To enhance the safety and security of students, staff and community, a cooperative and proactive effort shall be maintained between the officials of the school district and law enforcement and state agencies. The Board shall cooperate and to the extent possible develop written agreements with law enforcement officials, the juvenile justice system, and social services, as allowed under state and federal law, to keep each school environment safe.”
One of the primary objectives listed in the policy is the protection of the civil rights of all individuals, stating “The District is committed to protecting the immigration status of its students and their parents. To aid in the safeguarding of this information, the District will follow the procedures outlined in regulation KLG-R.”
Nichols noted that while policy KLG is not new, regulation KLG-R is completely new in which Colorado school boards are required by law to adopt a policy on relations with federal immigration officials. This regulation outlines procedures for situations involving federal immigration officials, the collection of certain personal identifying information and the release of records for the purposes of immigration matters.
As outlined, the district will not collect immigration or citizenship information/documents except as required by state and/or federal law. No person or agency may access student education records and other personal identifying information of a student without prior written consent or as set forth in law. The personal identifying information collected by the district, including of parents or relatives who visit campus, will be maintained and safeguarded according to federal and state law.
Additionally, the district superintendent will be the designated employee to handle immigration matters, serving as the point person when an immigration official is physically present at a district building and will respond to requests for access or information. According to the regulation, the superintendent will take steps to keep the immigration official in a designated area, review and verify the official’s information and purpose for the visit and determine the appropriate next steps. The superintendent will inform the student, and the student’s family, of any request for access or information, if appropriate.
The district has also outlined steps to follow if someone encounters anyone in a uniform they do not recognize or who is claiming to be a federal agent arrives at a school building. It includes keeping them inside the school vestibule without letting them into the building, calling dispatch to request local law enforcement to verify the legitimacy of any warrants, contacting the building and district administrators, and not confirming any student information or signing any documents.
The district also has a community resource sheet to help families navigate immigration situations.
Nichols summarized, “Our stance is, even for a local law enforcement official, you can do that after school. This is learning time, not your access time. We are not immigration people here and our school hours are not your enforcement hours. These kids are at school, they’re in our care.”
Board member Katya Schloesser stressed the importance of verifying the officer’s information and reporting any noncompliant behavior of the officer to the appropriate state agencies. The board also discussed when to communicate a situation with families. “At what point does the family get contacted,” asked Schloesser. “You don’t want to cause undue trauma and stress. How would we handle that in that case as far as communicating to families.”
Nichols and the board recognized that determining when to communicate with parents and families was situational, and they will continue to review the drafts and refine the language. The board will consider the law enforcement and immigration policy again at second reading, for adoption, at their February 23 meeting.
Attendance down due to ICE fears?
The Crested Butte News also checked in with Nichols regarding school attendance, and asked whether the district has experienced a decline in student attendance due to ICE fears given recent immigration developments across the nation.
“It’s a mixed bag regarding our enrollment,” wrote Nichols in an email response to the News. “We have seen a drop of nine students in January in our Gunnison schools, with some of that we believe due to immigrant families leaving Gunnison, and we have seen an increase of seven students in our CB schools, with some of that due to immigrant families moving to CB.” She added, “We have had reports of parents from at least two families (one parent in each family) being detained for immigration matters.” Nichols did not have additional information on the matter.
She noted that the district has not noticed any attendance trends that necessarily point to students staying away from schools based on immigration-related concerns.
