Despite changes in federal immigration policy, CCSD Superintendent Dr. Robbie Hooker has pledged that schools in Athens will remain safe and welcoming for all students, regardless of documentation status.
As long as he can do anything about it, at least.
On his second day in office, President Donald Trump removed the protections that schools and churches once had against raids by federal immigration police. Even so, this doesn’t mean that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have free rein on school grounds.
In the days after Trump’s inauguration, CCSD Superintendent Dr. Robbie Hooker sent a letter to school families in Athens, explaining the situation and pledging to maintain his focus on the welfare of the student body. Last week, he elaborated on his plan to protect students at a meeting of the ACC Board of Education.
CCSD’s new policy regarding ICE
Hooker told the Board of Education that CCSD staff have developed step-by-step instructions for what school employees should do if ICE shows up on school grounds and requests entry.
The new policy states that receptionists should try to delay immigration agents at the school entrance while they contact the principal. This may be easier said than done. If ICE agents illegally force their way in, there isn’t much the school can do about it except to record the incident and take legal action after the fact.
Assuming ICE agents don’t use illegal force, the principal will ask for the agent’s name and identification at the school’s entrance. The principal would then try to find out the reason for the visit.
If the ICE agent has a warrant for a student’s arrest that is signed by a judge, they would be allowed inside to take the student into custody as is legally required.
However, it seems unlikely that an ICE agent would have such a warrant. Typically, ICE agents are only able to obtain administrative warrants when seeking to take an undocumented immigrant into their custody. Such warrants are not signed by a judge and thus are not legally binding on the school. An administrative “warrant” only means that an agent has authorization from their higher-ups within ICE, not from a judge.
Therefore, if an ICE agent presents a warrant to the principal, they will still not be allowed entry at first. That’s because it may be unclear if the warrant is the legally-binding type or not, so it would first be sent for review by the school’s legal counsel while the agent waits outside.
While not explicitly stated, the existence of a policy like this, combined with Hooker’s pledge that ACC schools will remain safe and welcoming places for all students, indicates that ICE agents would not be allowed on school grounds without a legally-binding judicial warrant.
In any case, the parents of the affected student would be contacted immediately after consulting with legal counsel. To ensure this happens in a timely manner, the school district encourages all parents to keep their contact information up to date on CCSD’s parent portal.
Board of Education discussion
Board members were strongly supportive of Hooker’s new policy and thanked him for his leadership on this issue.
“It puts my heart at ease. It puts my mind at ease,” said ACC Board of Education member Linda Davis.
ACC Board of Education member Tim Denson, who was also strongly supportive of the new policy, asked for it to be discussed at the next school board retreat. Denson expressed a desire to ensure that the policy would remain in effect past Hooker’s tenure and into the administration of the next superintendent, whoever that may be.
Going further, ACC Board of Education member Dr. Mumbi Anderson brought up the possibility that the board could issue a formal statement of support for immigrant students and their families.
Given recent reports that some immigrant students have not been attending school lately out of fear of the immigration police, ACC Board of Education member Dr. LaKeisha Gantt asked Hooker if he had any data on school attendance over the past month. Hooker replied that he would be providing board members with this information soon.
Hooker told board members that the school district does not keep or share data on the immigration status of students. He also reassured them that no one from ICE or the US Department of Homeland Security has yet entered any school in the Clarke County School District.
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