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Delegates press schools on immigration-enforcement guidance and attendance impacts; superintendent says BCPS is following state protocols
Summary
Delegates asked whether ICE activity is affecting attendance and whether BCPS provides front-office staff with guidance. Superintendent Rogers said BCPS follows Maryland State Department of Education guidance and local safety protocols and that the district is monitoring attendance trends.
Delegates at the Baltimore County Delegation meeting on Jan. 31 asked whether immigration-enforcement activity had affected absenteeism and whether school staff had guidance for handling encounters with federal enforcement.
Delegate Ruth asked whether Baltimore County Public Schools issues specific guidance to front-office staff beyond Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) baseline guidance, noting concerns about Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections and warrant requirements. Superintendent Rogers said MSDE guidance “does have specific guidance” for front-office staff, and she described BCPS protocols that include visitor verification systems, a safety-and-security office and documented procedures to ensure staff do not “just turn over students to any adult.”
Delegate Shalaga read from a news account she said quoted the ICE director, noting the director’s comment that “we have not been in any schools” and that ICE does not target children in schools; she urged delegates to tamp down misinformation. Delegate Phillips asked whether the recent events had produced identifiable attendance trends. Rogers said the district had not yet seen a systemwide trend tied directly to enforcement activity but said staff are monitoring and contacting families whenever a student is absent. She said the district has sent guidance and resources in multiple languages, has reached out to the State Department of Education and is coordinating with local law enforcement and the county executive’s office.
Rogers said local partnerships with the police department and the county executive are active, that superintendents were briefed last week by the state-level official referenced by delegates, and that school and county leaders have direct lines of communication to follow up on concerns. She said BCPS will continue to monitor attendance data and maintain communication with families and public-safety partners.
Ending
Rogers told delegates the district will continue close monitoring, outreach and interagency coordination and that the district had distributed MSDE resources in multiple languages to families.
