Chicago school board hears urgent pleas over ICE activity and student safety; district outlines command center and limits on remote learning

Interim Superintendent Macklin King told the Chicago Board of Education on Oct. 23 that the district has set up a command center and convenes twice-daily meetings to coordinate responses after a recent rise in federal enforcement activity that school communities say is creating fear. “We have set up a command center within our student safety center to help streamline responses, and reduce delays in communication,” King said.

Board members and speakers during public participation described schools and neighborhoods where parents and students are afraid to travel to and from school because of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Board member Lopez said she has been “on the ground” in Little Village and Brighton Park and called the situation “an emergency.” Multiple board members asked the district to consider signage, gates and other on-campus measures and to increase coordination with neighborhood rapid-response groups.

Acting Chief Education Officer Alfonso Carmona said CPS has provided “real time assistance to dozens of schools,” including safety staff, communications support and mental-health resources, and that the district is meeting with city public-safety leaders and labor partners. He also told the board that CPS can add protocols and work with principals and network chiefs on gate signage and closure but that the authority to call an all-district remote learning day rests with the governor, not the district: “As a district, Chicago Public Schools does not have the authority to call remote learning. That is the governor’s right and the ability to authorize remote learning.”

Union leaders and parent advocates framed the safety crisis as both immediate and structural. Vicky Kurzidlow, recording secretary of the Chicago Teachers Union, urged the board to use the proposed TIF surplus to fund safe-passage programs, social-emotional supports and virtual options for families who are afraid to send children to school. Safe-passage vendors told the board they have lost capacity since 2009 and urged increased funding to restore staffing.

Students and the board’s honorary student member described young people tracking and sharing ICE locations and said many students and families are terrified. The district said it will continue to share protocols, integrate board members into the district command center and update members on implementation. Board members asked for written reports on signage installations, gate procedures and possible expansions of community rapid-response partnerships.

The board did not vote on new districtwide emergency authority. Members instead pressed staff for follow-up reports and for stronger local coordination; the district committed to provide more detailed attendance and safety updates to the board and to continue working with city agencies and community groups.

Next steps: CPS said it will share reports on signage and gate installation status, consider how to integrate board members into the command-center briefings, and continue joint calls with city public-safety leaders and labor partners.