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St. Paul board reaffirms protections for immigrant students, adopts ICE-related district practices
Summary
The St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution Feb. 18 reaffirming district practices intended to protect students and families when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is present or seeks access to district property.
The St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution Feb. 18 that affirms district practices for responding to requests, inquiries or presence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on school property.
Board Chair Henderson introduced the resolution and said it updates a similar 2017 board action. Henderson said the measure is designed to use “the levers that we have to continue to support and affirm to our families and our students what is possible,” while acknowledging the district cannot guarantee outcomes beyond its legal authority.
General Counsel Long told the board the district circulated a detailed memo to all SPPS staff on Jan. 31 describing steps building administrators and staff should take if ICE appears on district property. Long said the memo includes talking points for staff, links to district policies on law enforcement and student interviews, and resources to provide to families. She said the district followed the memo with Zoom trainings for principals, assistant principals and other district leaders, and plans sessions for families and students with local legal services (Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services) to review individual rights.
Director Franco and others asked about procedural details and community outreach. Chief Collins and legal staff described the training cadence and said materials and guidance are available in writing; public-facing sessions will be scheduled to explain rights and procedures. Speakers during the public comment period urged the board to adopt the resolution and highlighted community fears about proposed state bills they said would require local law enforcement reporting of noncitizens to ICE (HF10, HF16 and HF772 as cited by a public commenter).
The board voted and the motion passed unanimously. The resolution will be implemented via staff training, building-level guidance and planned community legal training sessions. The board emphasized that the resolution clarifies local practice rather than creating new statutory authority.
The vote: Yes — Directors Ward, Vu, Allen, Carrillo, Franco, Valiant and Henderson. Outcome: approved unanimously.
Provenance: The resolution was introduced at the start of the district practices discussion and closed with the unanimous vote; the board’s introduction appears at the Feb. 18 meeting transcript at 00:42:09 (Chair Henderson’s remarks) and the final vote appears at 01:37:00 (vote readback).
