School board adopts resolution reaffirming Santa Fe Public Schools as safe havens

The Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education adopted Resolution 2024-25-9 on Jan. 16, reaffirming previous sanctuary/safe-haven language and updating the district’s wording about protected areas and access by federal immigration officials.

Board Member Bose introduced the updated resolution and said it is intended to recommit the district to keeping schools safe and accessible to students, particularly students from immigrant families. Bose cited attendance concerns tied to perceptions of safety and thanked district legal counsel and staff for edits. Superintendent Chavez and staff described procedural updates: school security has been brought in-house, principals and front office staff have clear directions about who to admit on campus, and the district will not provide citizenship status information because the New Mexico Public Education Department does not collect it.

Bose noted edits before the vote to clarify the protected-area definition (explicitly including facilities owned, controlled or leased by SFPS and official activities occurring in public and adjacent places), to require refusal of access to federal immigration officials except upon issuance and receipt of a warrant, and to change language to ‘‘continue to provide’’ counseling services already in place. Board Member Bose moved adoption; a board member seconded. The board voted yes; the motion carried.

The resolution was presented as a reaffirmation of previous actions taken in 2016–2017; the uploaded draft on the board docs site was used for review. No fiscal changes or new programs were listed in the resolution text presented at the meeting.