Schools reach out to families to quell fears in San Mateo County

While county education leaders have prepared and bolstered its support systems for its immigrant families since the election, San Mateo County Superintendent Nancy Magee said what was unknown was the speed and fervor in which the executive actions would be taken. 

“Today is a pretty disheartening and dispiriting day that our schools and the education of our children are being put at risk in this kind of unsafe environment that really isn’t helping children or families,” Magee said. 

Randall Booker, superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District, sent out an email to families quickly after the announcement was made, stating that student safety is the priority of the district. 

“All children in the United States, regardless of immigration or citizenship status, have a right to a free and appropriate public education,” Booker said in an email to families Jan. 22. “Our schools have an obligation to preserve access to education for students of all backgrounds including immigrant students.” 

Many districts are referring to policies to support undocumented families they established the first time Trump was elected to office — San Mateo Union High School District trustees passed a resolution in 2016, San Mateo-Foster City School District passed theirs in 2017. 

“We know our families want reassurance and that’s what all of our policies are about,” SMFCSD Superintendent Diego Ochoa said. “We’ve trained over 200 employees on what the district policies are. We think it’s important for staff to understand what steps we’re going to take.” 

If an ICE agent comes to campus, school officials should not release student information without a judicial warrant or court order. Should a warrant or court order be presented, district staff should check the document with a county deputy attorney for authentication before authorizing compliance, Lisa Cho, deputy county attorney, said in an email to superintendents.

With these procedures in place, superintendents said nothing has changed in terms of their intention to protect the privacy of students and their families. 

“I think creating a community that is welcoming takes trust and it takes outreach and it takes effort,” Ochoa said. “The national rhetoric about immigration enforcement only makes me want to double down on those things, create more trust and invest more time with families.”

Booker said the mere threat of immigration enforcement involving schools creates another level of fear and anxiety that may deter families from feeling safe. 

“We know from past experience that this decision will result in some students not attending school, families disengaging, academics being disrupted, and severe impacts on social-emotional well-being,” Booker said in an email to faculty. 

For families who may feel wary of letting their kids attend school, Magee encourages families to reach out to a trusted leader at their school site to express their concerns and come up with a plan to ease any stress. 

“We have done this before, so schools have processes and we can create entry areas where families are safe to enter the school to pick up their kids,” Magee said. 

“Our core mission is to ensure that every student is of age to get to school, be in school to learn, and get home from school,” Magee said. 

Acknowledging the stress many in the community may be facing, Ochoa said families should know that the schools are there to support them, even when it feels like little can be done. 

“What we can’t do is stop somebody from being afraid, what we can do is, we’re here for you,” Ochoa said. “You’re going to feel this way, and you have people to support you.”