Thompson School Board temporarily adopts new policy on law-enforcement access, schedules final reading Sept. 17

Thompson School District R-2J’s Board of Education on Sept. 3 voted to temporarily adopt a rewritten policy, KLG, and its accompanying regulation, KLG‑R, that govern district interactions with state and federal law enforcement and the handling of records and immigration‑related information. The board scheduled a final (permanent) reading and vote for Sept. 17, 2025.

The district presented the emergency adoption after a recent legislative change — referred to in the meeting as “Senate Bill 25 27 6” — and because the statutory deadline for having a compliant policy had passed on Sept. 1. Hud, the district’s assistant superintendent for operations, said the legislation contains two main requirements: it “prohibits collection and disclosure of immigration related information” and it “requires districts to have a well maintained process for how to interact with federal agents.” The new KLG is a rewritten policy at a higher level; KLG‑R sets out procedural details and recordkeeping.

District staff told the board they received a late model policy draft from the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), but that outside counsel (identified in the meeting as Kaplan and Ernest) provided an alternate draft they believed better met district needs. Staff said CASB’s version did not address employees and focused only on students; the district’s draft added employee protections and expanded procedural detail.

Board members asked for several clarifications before final adoption. A board member identified as Nancy asked whether law‑enforcement officers engaged in a chase who enter school grounds would be covered by the policy; staff said building safety procedures (for example, lockdowns) would apply regardless of an individual’s immigration or enforcement status. Another board member asked the policy to explicitly state that, absent a warrant or subpoena, federal immigration authorities would not have access to district records or individuals; staff said they would consult Kaplan and Ernest and consider adding explicit language before the final reading.

Members also requested that the district provide excerpts of existing memoranda of understanding (MOUs) — including language that specifies what partner agencies and school resource officers may access — at the final presentation so trustees and the public can see what on‑the‑ground agreements already say. Staff said attorneys were reviewing existing MOUs and that building‑level training and communications to families would follow once the permanent policy is adopted.

The board voted to temporarily adopt both the KLG policy and KLG‑R regulation on an emergency basis, with a permanent reading set for Sept. 17, 2025. No board member recorded a negative vote on either temporary adoption, and the board directed staff to continue refining language on subpoenas/warrants and to provide MOU excerpts at the next meeting.

The temporary adoptions move the district toward compliance with the recently referenced law and trigger a follow‑up process that includes attorney review, final board adoption, building‑level implementation and community notification.