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Public commenter urges immigrant and LGBTQ+ student protections; DEI director outlines training and supports
Summary
A public commenter asked the Royal Oak Schools Board to adopt a resolution affirming protections for immigrant and LGBTQ+ students and to refuse cooperation with ICE without a criminal warrant; the board heard a DEI update from Ashley Phillips including professional development, JEDI committee activity, and the introduction of a new part-time social worker for adult education.
During public comment at the Dec. 12 Royal Oak Schools Board meeting, a community member urged trustees to adopt a resolution mirroring one recently passed by the Chicago Board of Education that would formally commit the district to protect students and families of diverse immigrant statuses, gender identities and sexual orientations. The commenter asked that the resolution require multilingual informational resources, training for staff and families, mental-health supports, legal-assistance information, and a policy to refuse U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to district families or staff absent a criminal warrant. The transcript records the request but no formal board action on such a resolution during the meeting.
The board then received a broad Diversity, Equity and Inclusion update from Ashley Phillips. Phillips described November—s districtwide gratitude activities, professional learning tied to the Michigan Department of Education—s LGBTQ+ students project (including participation by Jay Kaplan, ACLU of Michigan state staff attorney), neurodiversity training on co-regulation, and ongoing work by the district—s JEDI committee and campus-level caregiver/community councils. Phillips said the district is planning an athletics-focused session in January on supporting LGBTQ+ student athletes and highlighted MLK Day events, career-planning work and field-trip equity planning with Oakland Schools.
Phillips also introduced Michael Trudell, hired as a part-time social worker for the district—s continuing/adult education program, who described starting a newsletter, compiling resources and launching a resiliency-focused social group after the new year.
No resolution on immigrant protections was before the board that evening; the public comment request was treated as a request for board consideration and follow-up communication was requested by the commenter. Phillips said policy work with district consultants (Cornelius Godfrey) is in early stages and that model policies have not yet been proposed.
What happens next: the board did not vote on a protection resolution at this meeting; staff said they would follow up on public comment questions and continue DEI programming and training.
