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CSEA president urges Rialto Unified to treat immigration enforcement as crisis; board asks staff for ICE protocols update
Summary
At the July 16 board meeting, CSEA chapter president Christina Costa urged Rialto Unified to declare the rise in local immigration-enforcement activity a public crisis and to provide multilingual legal, counseling and community supports; trustees asked staff for a clear campus protocol and said counseling referrals and on-site services are available.
Christina Costa, president of the California School Employees Association chapter representing Rialto staff, told the Rialto Unified School District Board of Education on July 16 that many families and staff are living in ‘quiet, fearful anxiety’ because of local immigration-enforcement activity and called on the board to act.
“No child should have to start a school year in fear,” Costa said, urging the board to create accessible legal and advocacy resources, host safe informational meetings with immigration attorneys and trauma counselors, and support confidential parent and caregiver groups on school grounds or virtually.
The plea prompted trustees to seek clearer operational guidance. Trustee Evelyn Dominguez, who described arriving in the U.S. as a child and said the district must be a “safe haven,” asked Deputy Superintendent Dr. Rhea McGyver Gibbs to provide an update to the board on the district’s ICE protocols and plans for managing any enforcement presence on campuses during the first day of school.
Clerk Edgar Montez said he had heard staff rumors and asked that the district develop formal procedures for verifying visiting agents and for coordinating law-enforcement involvement and parent communications. “How do we know they’re really agents?” Montez asked, noting reports of impersonators.
Vice President Martinez cautioned against asking staff to physically impede agents, saying staff could face arrest if they try to block authorized officers. Martinez asked staff to clarify what supports families and employees can access; staff responded that the district refers families to Care Solace and provides on-site special-services staff and additional counseling referrals.
Deputy Superintendent Gibbs and Dr. Sonia Scott, executive director of special services, said the district has counseling pathways, on-site staff supports and referral relationships with community partners. Scott described practical limits: some services and related billing are unpredictable at year’s end and staffing for one-to-one aides and extracurricular events can increase costs, but said the district will work to ensure supports are available.
Board members urged proactive communications ahead of the Aug. 11 school start date and said district teams would prepare materials for families in multiple languages and publicize available resources. The board did not adopt a formal resolution declaring a public crisis at the meeting; trustees asked staff to bring protocol details and recommended communications to a future meeting or to post them through the district’s outreach channels.
The board also reminded the public of the district’s inaugural Unity Summit on July 25, which staff said would include a community information booth from the superintendent-search firm and materials on supports and services.
