The school district is to consider new procedures that spell out what employees should do if federal immigration officers show up at a school, approach a school bus, or request access to students or records.
The information appears on the Corvallis School Board’s Sept. 8 agenda, which lists three immigration-related documents named KNA-AP, KNA-AR(1), and KNA-AR(2).
It should be noted that these procedures are not just a policy created independently by the school district. They come as Oregon school districts respond to new state requirements governing interactions between public schools and federal immigration authorities.
The documents do provide a pretty detailed picture of what could happen if immigration enforcement occurs, not only on school grounds, but also on buses and in additional areas where the school operates.
(Photo: CSD509j/Corvallis School District)
Under the proposed procedures, federal immigration officers would not automatically be given access to nonpublic areas of a school.
Employees who receive a request from immigration authorities would generally refer the matter to the district’s designated immigration liaison rather than making a decision themselves. Superintendent Ryan Noss is designated as the district’s liaison.
The district would then determine whether officers have the appropriate legal authority to enter a restricted area or obtain protected information.
These procedures distinguish between areas of school property that are open to the public and areas that are not. They also distinguish between different types of legal documents presented by federal authorities.
The procedures state that employees are not directed to interfere with or obstruct officers. Instead, they establish who handles the request and how the district determines whether access is legally required.
A more notable portion of the proposal involves notifications.
If federal immigration enforcement activity is confirmed on district property, the district proposes to send prompt electronic notifications to parents and guardians, district employees, and students in seventh grade and above.
Community service organizations can also register to receive the notifications.
This proposed notification system would create a way for the district to quickly inform the community when confirmed immigration enforcement is occurring on school property.
The school bus portion of the policy is also notable.
If immigration officers approach a school bus and request entry, the driver would keep the bus secured, communicate with the officers from inside when possible, ask them to wait outside, and contact the district’s immigration liaison. The liaison would then be in charge of handling the request and evaluating the officers’ legal authority.
The procedure basically removes the responsibility of making an immediate legal determination from a bus driver who may have students aboard.
This one is a little more obvious, but the district also proposes documenting requests from federal immigration authorities.
Employees would record information about an encounter, including the officers’ names, agencies, and identifying information, what they requested, the legal authority they presented, and how the interaction concluded.
The policies also contemplate immigration enforcement encounters outside the classroom. These areas include extracurricular activities, athletics, and any events held on district property.
Corvallis School District is not the only one considering these policies. There are new Oregon requirements that are prompting districts across the state to establish or update procedures governing federal immigration enforcement on school property.
Much of the underlying policies the Corvallis School District laid out is being driven by changes at the state level.
The three proposed immigration documents are included with the Corvallis School Board’s Sept. 8 meeting agenda. The packet can be found here.
This article was written by Jesse Grant, a contributor to The Corvallis Inquirer. Feel free to send us your stories or articles to publish at: editor@corvallisnow.com
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