Central Falls board adopts revised Safe Schools policy, adds Immigration Enforcement Response Committee

The Central Falls School District Board of Trustees voted Dec. 17 to adopt a revised Safe Schools policy that creates an Immigration Enforcement Response Committee to handle interactions with immigration enforcement and to streamline handling of potentially immigration-branded student records.

Director Haire, introducing the second reading, said the key change was to move away from a single decision-maker model and instead create a five-person committee "asking that person to reach out to this committee rather than to the superintendent" so the committee can consult district legal counsel and determine whether documentation or warrants are legally warranted. She said committee members would be nominated by the superintendent and approved by the board and that vacancies would be filled the same way.

Haire also said the policy replaces the phrase "school principal" with "school administrator" in several places so multiple school leaders can respond initially, and it revises procedures for removing immigration-related branding from records so fewer hands handle sensitive student documents. The policy additionally adds the Office of Refugee Services to a list of federal, state or local offices referenced for voluntarily submitted paperwork.

Board Member Pergan moved to approve the redline changes to the Safe Schools policy; Board Member Hugo Figueroa seconded the motion. The board voted to approve the policy as presented.

The vote followed brief praise from several trustees for the policy's forward-looking scope. The board did not record amendments to the motion on the floor; the adopted changes reflected the revisions presented in the second reading.

The board did not identify an effective-date in the presentation; implementation details and any nomination schedule for committee membership will be handled through the district's implementation process and returned to the board for approval as required.