Parents, teachers urge Durham schools to strengthen policy on immigration enforcement and adopt ‘private zones’ protocol

Public commentators urged the Durham Public Schools Board of Education on Thursday to revise district policy governing law‑enforcement interactions and to adopt a new “private zones” protocol to shield students and families from immigration enforcement at or near schools. Holly Harden, a middle‑school teacher, and several parents and students said the district’s current Policy 5120 does not clearly protect students’ due‑process rights or set staff procedures for responding to immigration enforcement. “I cannot do my job if students and families do not feel safe in our schools,” Harden said. Why this matters: advocates said unclear local rules and recent federal changes have increased fear among immigrant and refugee families, harming attendance, multilingual learner enrollment and student learning. Speakers asked the board to restore provisions that were…