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Kenosha board to consider one-page “safe haven” resolution amid parent concerns about immigration enforcement
Summary
Board members agreed to place a shortened safe-haven resolution on the April 29 agenda and asked administration to develop related policies and procedures to guide staff responses if immigration or other state agencies seek to interview or remove people on school property.
The Kenosha School District Board of Education agreed Thursday to place a one-page “safe haven” resolution on the April 29 regular meeting agenda, saying the measure is intended to calm parents worried about immigration enforcement on or near school property.
The resolution, as presented by board member Missus Landry, would express the board’s support for work to develop district policy and procedures specifying how school staff should respond if federal immigration authorities or other state agencies seek access to nonpublic district property or attempt to question or detain students or family members.
The board’s discussion centered on practical steps the district could take now and later: Missus Landry said stakeholders shortened an original five-page draft into a single-page resolution and that a second phase would ask administration to draft the operational policy and procedures. “...this district, do something to calm the fears of some of the parents of students in our district and letting them know that we take this seriously as a board,” Landry said.
Superintendent Jeff said the district has had only limited conversations with law enforcement and that legal counsel was consulted about potential legal or litigious concerns after the first draft appeared. “We have policy in terms of how we interact with law enforcement,” a district representative said, adding there is currently no indication that authorities have operations planned in district schools.
Board members pressed for clarity about on-the-ground steps principals and staff should take. Questions included whether law enforcement would present a warrant or subpoena at the school and whether staff should immediately call the superintendent’s office. Missus Tindall described existing guidance: staff are to verify identification, request a judicial warrant or subpoena and call school leadership; procedures would be revisited and reinforced.
Missus Landry and other board members identified several immediate needs: training for principals and ESE staff on how to respond, encouraging families to update emergency contacts in Infinite Campus so the district can reach alternate contacts if a parent is detained, and producing clear guidance about when staff must comply with warrants or subpoenas. Landry noted the district recently lost bilingual family liaisons and said administrators will need support and training to fill those communication roles.
No vote was taken Thursday; the board asked staff to place the resolution on the April 29 agenda for discussion and action, and to bring back any relevant information, including what law enforcement has said and draft procedural language.
Board members and staff said the resolution is intended as the first step; policy language and implementation steps would be developed by administration following board direction.
