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Student urges policies for immigration‑enforcement campus visits; community member raises release‑time religious instruction
Summary
A Great Valley High student urged the board to adopt protocols for Immigration and Customs Enforcement visits—suggesting parent notifications, limiting information sharing without a warrant and staff training—while a community member asked the district to prepare for LifeWise Academy release‑time requests under Pennsylvania law.
During public comment at the March 9 work session, Esme McPhee, a student at Great Valley High School, asked the board to consider specific policies and procedures in the event Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appears on campus. McPhee suggested prompt parent notification, limiting information disclosure unless a proper warrant is presented, and training staff to distinguish judicial warrants from administrative ones.
"Informing parents at earliest notice and maybe...withhold any information unless, like, a proper warrant is given," McPhee said, asking the district to adopt measures to make immigrant students feel safe while they are on campus. The board president, Rachel Gallegos, thanked McPhee for speaking and emphasized the district takes student safety seriously, noting administrators regularly review who has access to campus and how access is controlled.
A community member, Megan Connolly, later urged the board to review policies related to LifeWise Academy and 'release time for religious instruction' (RTRI). Connolly told trustees that, under Pennsylvania law, if a group requests release time for religious instruction the district must allow it, and she urged the board to ensure the district's RTRI policy is clear and that off‑campus instruction is safe and meets district expectations.
Both comments prompted brief board responses thanking the speakers and committing to follow up as appropriate. No new policy was adopted during the session; trustees invited further dialogue and confirmation from staff about current procedures and policy language.
