Boston Public Schools has rolled out a 36-page directive called “Protecting All Students” that tells principals and staff, step by step, how to respond if federal immigration agents appear at a school, on a bus, or during a field trip. The guidance lays out when officers may enter campus, what staff are allowed to say to students and to agents, and a checklist for what schools should do if a parent is detained or deported. It also matches those rules with supports for kids caught in the middle, from legal referrals to trauma-focused activities such as art and music classes, as per the Boston.gov.
The new playbook follows Mayor Michelle Wu’s February executive order that limits immigration enforcement on city property, which the school guidance explicitly cites, according to Boston.gov.
What BPS Is Telling Staff
The “Protecting All Students” document, shared with school leaders in March, tells staff they are not allowed to discuss a student’s immigration status with law enforcement unless the district’s legal team signs off, and that employees must not physically interfere with federal agents during an arrest, as reported by The Boston Globe. It also directs school leaders to decline officers’ requests to come inside unless they present a judicial warrant, and to ask agents to wait while a school attorney reviews any documents.
How The District Will Support Students
On a district information page, Boston Public Schools reminds families that during the school day only enrolled students and authorized adults are allowed on campus, and that under FERPA the district cannot share personally identifiable student records with law enforcement without a court order, according to Boston Public Schools. The guidance also creates a helpline and a system for staff to quickly reach a BPS attorney, and it outlines what schools should do after any enforcement incident to support students and tamp down rumors.
Teachers and advocates have generally praised the framework while raising practical questions about how it will work at the curb. Arrival and dismissal bring crowds of students to the doors and long lines of cars for family pickups, which can stress any plan. “If ICE is parked outside, what’s happening while you’re checking [with the legal department]?” asked Nora Paul-Schultz, and Diana Santiago of Massachusetts Advocates for Children highlighted the guidance’s focus on promptly notifying families, as reported by The Boston Globe.
Legal Context
The district’s guidance leans on existing law and state advisories. The Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in Plyler v. Doe confirms that undocumented children have a right to a public education, per Justia, and the Massachusetts Attorney General has issued an advisory reminding districts that schools must provide equal access to education regardless of immigration status, according to Mass.gov.
What Families Should Know
In a March 3 letter to families, Superintendent Mary Skipper wrote that the district’s Office of Legal Advisor is “on standby at all times” to review any warrant and that her leadership team is prepared to support schools, per the superintendent’s letter. Mary Skipper also reminded families that BPS has opened a helpline for confidential support…