The Riverhead Central School District, the largest school district on the East End, pledged Thursday to uphold New York State guidance that “immigration enforcement actions cannot occur on school grounds without proper legal documentation,” in the wake of the new federal administration’s announcement earlier this week that it will allow immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals.
In a letter to the community posted on its website Thursday, Jan. 23, the president of the school’s Board of Education, James Scudder, and Interim Superintendent of Schools Cheryl Pedisich said the district will adhere to state guidance “in the strictest sense, calling upon our legal counsel to affirm the validity of any supposed legal documentation brought to the district by any federal agency before we commit to compliance.”
The Riverhead Central School Districts educates nearly 5,500 students from throughout the Town of Riverhead as far east as Laurel on the North Fork and from the communities of Flanders, Northampton and Riverside in Southampton Town.
Across the country, the new directive has struck fear into immigrant communities, with many families now facing a choice between sending their school-age children to school — which is required by federal law regardless of their immigration status — or keeping them home to avoid possible detention.
The uncertainty is being felt elsewhere close to home. On the North Fork this week, students from Mattituck High School were filled with questions at an immigration forum hosted by CAST about what to do if their parents are deported.
Prior to Tuesday’s order, issued by Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been acting on guidance issued in 2011 prohibiting detention at “sensitive locations” including schools, hospitals and churches, religious ceremonies and marches and rallies.
“To address the serious concerns raised by the new White House executive orders, the Riverhead Central School District is taking pre-emptive steps to support our students and their families,” the Riverhead administrators wrote in their letter. “We are providing resources to help families understand their rights. We are bringing in our legal counsel on how to respond appropriately to the challenges that might arise relative to our immigrant student population, including the potential of ICE officers appearing at our schools’ doorsteps. We are also reviewing and hardening, where necessary, our policies to protect the privacy of student information. Under no circumstances will personally identifiable student information be disclosed without proper legal justification, and only then with the approval of our district’s legal counsel. We are committed to remaining steadfast and vigilant in upholding these protections.”
Their statements echoed those issued by the New York State Education Department this month that New York schools “should remain a safe haven where all students are welcomed and provided a free public education.”
The state guidance recommends schools “not allow officers inside school property to access a student, except to address an imminent safety situation or where required by law due to a judicial warrant or order,” immediately notify the student’s parent or guardian of the request, and officers must provide the superintendent and school district attorney with documents and await their guidance before proceeding with any actions.
The state also clarified that School Resource Officers (SROs), local police officers stationed in schools, have a duty “to uphold undocumented students’ right to attend school without fear of adverse immigration consequences,” and the Fourth Amendment prohibits SROS from detaining or questioning a student unless the officer “has reasonable suspicion that the student has violated school policy or committed an illegal act that threatened the threatened the ‘special needs of school safety.'”
“A student’s immigration status does not implicate school safety or school policy, and will never justify a detention or interrogation on school grounds,” and “may also violate the state Constitution and various state and federal civil rights laws,” according to the state document.
“The Riverhead School District will always stand in defiance of any initiative, regardless of its source, that threatens the safety and well-being of any of our students,” the administrators wrote in their letter. “We will continue to advocate for our students and defend their absolute right to an education free from harassment, intimidation or fear-mongering. It is our sacred vow to ensure that every child in our care feels safe, supported and respected.”
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