Boston Public Schools overhauled its guidelines for how staff should respond to federal agents following Mayor Michelle Wu’s executive order prohibiting immigration enforcement on city property.
School employees are not allowed to discuss a student’s immigration status with law enforcement unless they have the approval of a city lawyer, according to the guidelines.
The directive outlines how to handle interactions on school property with agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE…
…“These guidelines are a great start, but I want us to continue to be brave so that students feel comfortable to come to school and to leave school,” said Nora Paul-Schultz, a physics teacher at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science.
The guidelines directed staff to continue drop-off and pick-up procedures for students “as you normally would.”
“At dismissal, we have about 1,500 students leaving the building at once,” Paul-Schultz said. “If ICE is parked outside, what’s happening while you’re checking [with the legal department]?”
Paul-Schultz said that if immigration agents congregate outside a school, she believes the building should go into lockdown until leaders can ensure students are able to leave school safely. Each school should have its own plan, she said, based on unique needs of a facility, the age of students, and whether they take the T or get picked up by their families.