Palo Alto Unified staff outline protections for immigrant and transgender students; board approves WestEd contract for math validation testing

District staff on Feb. 11 told the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education that existing policies limit disclosures to immigration enforcement and protect student privacy and gender-identity rights.

Robert Andrade, who led the staff presentation on policies related to immigration enforcement, said the district follows federal and state law: "Unless authorized by the family educational rights and Privacy Act, student information shall not be disclosed to any immigration law enforcement authorities without parental consent, a court order or a judicial subpoena," he said. Staff described a three-part response for immigration inquiries — handling requests for student information, requests for access to school grounds or students, and responses when family members are detained — and stressed that, absent a warrant or subpoena, parental consent is sought before an officer may interview or remove a student.

The board also heard from Linda Lion of Palo Alto Partners in Education, which reported a $5 million gift to the district this year and said the group's $5.3 million fundraising goal remains in progress; Lion warned that unmet fundraising targets could force reductions in staff-funded hours for some electives and services. Assistant superintendents provided a Local Control and Accountability Plan midyear update: total LCAP allocations (state and federal) in the presentation were $13,533,769, with year-to-date expenditures of $6,444,557 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

On a budget-linked consent item, the board approved a multi-year agreement with WestEd to develop and validate the district's middle-school math "validation" (skip) assessments. District staff said the tests are criterion-referenced and tailored to PUSD's compacted math pathway (four years of math condensed into three), and that WestEd will provide item development, psychometric review and cut-score calibration. Staff said a contract extension to develop additional validation tests runs to "June 27" as recorded in the meeting; the transcript did not specify the calendar year for that end date. Board members acknowledged community concerns about cost and asked whether off-the-shelf norm-referenced tools such as MAP or MDTP could be alternatives. District staff said PUSD previously used MDTP and other readiness screens but moved to a tailored approach to ensure alignment with PUSD course content and to reduce repeated community challenges to locally developed assessments.

Trustees approved the WestEd item during the consent vote and also moved and approved the consent calendar (with two items pulled for separate discussion). Board members said they intend to prioritize clearer communications to families about student protections and the LCAP budget.