Welcome to the training developed by the San Diego County Office of Education that focuses on legislation, policies, and best practices for creating a welcoming school for all students and families. The San Diego County Office of Education is committed to ensuring our campuses throughout this county are welcoming, safe spaces for all students and to building a bright future for every child in our school systems. The way that we support and respond to our students and families will shape their sense of belongingness to your school community. Schools are a place for all children. All children in California, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to high quality education. Under federal law titles four and six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, all children in the United States are entitled to equal access to a basic education regardless of their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, or the status of their parents or guardians. Additionally, the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Plyler versus Doe that a state may not deny access to a basic public education to any child residing in the state, whether present in the United States, legally or otherwise. To comply with these federal civil rights laws, as well as the mandates of the Supreme Court, school districts must ensure that the policies, procedures, and practices do not prohibit or discourage students from enrolling in school because they are their parents or guardians are not U.S. citizens. School districts must not require students to present proof of their national origin, citizenship, immigration status, or the status of their parents or guardians in order to enroll. School districts must not inquire specifically about a student's or their parent or guardians, citizenship, or immigration status. The children in our schools come from a diversity of backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. The children in our schools may be unaccompanied, meaning they do not have a parent in the US and lack legal immigration status. They may be children who are immigrants who were not born in the US and have not attended school in the US for more than three full academic years. They may be migratory children who have a parent who's a migratory worker and whose family has moved during the past three years. They may be children who are refugees who have fled their country of origin because of past persecution or fear of future persecution based upon race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Or they may be homeless children who lack a fixed, regular and adequate night time residence. Our students may meet the criteria for one or more of these definitions at any point in time. Having a whole child approach benefits all students and families and cultivates the welcoming environment your school is looking to create. A whole child approach is one that views students, their families, and their community through the lens of their assets and strength and values the collective wisdom derived from their experiences, their family history and their culture. Using a whole child approach to education means that we are caring for more than each student's academic learning. We're supporting their social, emotional, physical and mental well-being, too. When children enter our campuses, whatever their needs are, food insecurity, mental health support, clothing, housing, health screening, additional learning support, the school supports them holistically. Our students and families come to us with their own unique stories. Many are filled with traumatic or oppressive experiences that may cause fear, mistrust, or avoidance of interacting with the school system. Current changes to immigration policies are creating anxiety for many students and families in our school, which makes it difficult for children to learn and require school employees to work even harder to support students while maintaining a positive climate to ensure learning can occur. We know from experience that the discourse around immigration will result in some students not attending school, families disengaging, academics being disrupted, and severe impacts on social emotional well-being. We must also recognize that our immigrant, migrant, refugee, and unaccompanied children in particular face unstable circumstances that may lead to disruptions in their ability to engage with school, such as multiple changes in residence, prolonged absences from school, homelessness, and inconsistency in caretakers. It is incumbent upon our school community to demonstrate a welcoming environment that is open and supportive to all of our students and families and responsive to their individual needs. Students and families who have experienced trauma or distrust with the school system may present with emotional distress or variety of behaviors that can make it challenging to have productive interactions. It is important that our responses as a school community be informed by understanding of the way their experiences influence their behavior. Ultimately, the goal of a student or family's behaviour is to have their own or their children's needs met. When you lead with that lens, you're coming from a trauma informed view and have the ability to respond in a manner that will get the student, family and your needs met. School enrollment is the first opportunity to build a trusting relationship with the student and family and foster a sense of belonging. Often the first step in the school enrollment process is an online enrollment form or packet. This form may be what generates the family's first impression of your school and district. In order to ensure that the process is welcoming for a family, follow the following suggestions. Have support for those who do not have the literacy or language skills to understand the enrollment form independently. Ensure that there are alternatives available for those families who do not have access to electronic devices. Streamline the enrollment process as much as possible to allow limited data or the use of a smartphone as the device. Look at eliminating steps that may create barriers for families, such as having to upload documents or needing to be sent a PIN. If the enrollment process requires an e-mail, give instructions on how to create that. And finally, provide an enrollment card for families who may need to record their e-mail, username, password or student ID the information needed to enroll and continue to monitor their student through the school wide platform. Because the information in the enrollment form is sensitive and critical to supporting the student, it is imperative that the individual completing the enrollment process and provided access to student information is authorized to do so. The following are individuals who may complete enrollment. The parent, legal guardian, or individual with educational rights of the student. An adult who is acting as the caregiver in the absence of the parent. In this case, have a caregiver's affidavit available which gives the individual the ability to enroll the student, access their records, and make school related educational and medical decisions. An unaccompanied youth over the age of 14 who meets the definition of homeless is also one who's able to enroll themselves, as well as an unaccompanied youth over the age of 16 or an emancipated youth. Please note, schools should accept any form of identification or documentation that indicates that the individual is the parent, guardian, or educational rights holder of the student who is being enrolled. It is not mandatory that the individual present a California driver's license. These are the individuals with whom school staff can collaborate and share information with to support the students educational success. Many families who are concerned about unauthorized individuals accessing their or their students information may be hesitant to complete enrollment or other forms or surveys that ask for sensitive information, such as the annual housing questionnaire. In order to proactively alleviate those fears for families will be helpful to provide a statement at the beginning of each form, such as student information is protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, and will only be disclosed to those with the educational rights of the student and those with a legitimate educational interest or otherwise allowed by law. A full description of student records and the student privacy policy should be included in the school district's annual notification, along with information that states that a student's citizenship status, immigration status, place of birth or any other information indicating national origin will not be released to third parties outside the school without parental consent or a court order. Schools must annually request the parent or guardian to complete a housing questionnaire to help determine what supports, services and protections the student is eligible for and if they meet the definition of homeless under the McKinney Vento Assistance Act. The questionnaire should be embedded in the enrollment process. Families may be hesitant to complete the questionnaire. Assure them the information is protected and used only to determine eligibility for supports for both the student and family. If the family does not provide this information, it shall not affect the students enrollment in school. School districts shall not inquire specifically about a student's citizenship or immigration status or that of their parents or guardians, nor seek or require information that may indicate a student's immigration status. Information on the student's race and ethnicity may be asked as part of enrollment as long as the decision to decline to state does not affect the student's ability to enroll. Review your enrollment form and ensure that it does not request or require information such as Social Security number, students, place of birth, US entry date, date the student first attended school in the US. If this information is ultimately required for enrollment in federal or state programs, the family should be informed of the limited purpose for which this information is being collected, and it should be collected separately from the enrollment process to avoid deterring families from completing enrollment. And the decision to not provide this information when requested shall not affect the students enrollment or attendance in school. During the school enrollment process, schools must verify the following information unless an exemption applies. Residency, age. Vaccination status. Remember, foster youth, homeless youth, and unaccompanied minors who meet the definition of homeless have the right to immediate enrollment even if they are unable to produce the stated records required for enrollment. For students who have recently arrived from other countries who do not meet criteria for immediate enrollment, it may be helpful for schools to work with resettlement agencies or the consulate in the country where the student lived previously for assistance with locating needed documentation. A student is considered a resident of the school district if any of the following apply. Their parents or legal guardians reside in the district. They're in foster care located in the district. They are foster child or homeless child enrolling in their school of origin. They are emancipated and reside in the district. They live in the home of a caregiver who lives in the district. They reside in a state hospital located within the district. Additionally, a student is considered a resident of the school district if the student lives with their parent or guardian at their place of employment which resides within the district during the school week, or if their parent has been transferred or is pending transferred to a military installation within the district. Finally, a student whose parents or guardians were residents of the state and departed against their will, regardless of the pupil's current living situation. Students whose parents were deported and had to leave California as a result are entitled to be enrolled anywhere in the state, regardless of whether they are living in the state or across the border. In order to determine if a student lives within the boundary of the school district, a school is able to request residency documents. Family should be notified of the full range of documents that will be accepted as proof of residency. Reasonable evidence of residency shall be established by documentation showing the name and address of the parent, guardian, caregiver within the school district. Any of the following types of documentation must be accepted. Property tax payment receipts. Rental property contracts, utility service contracts, pay stubs, voter registration correspondence from a government agency, or a declaration of residency executed by the parent or legal guardian. The declaration of residency is the parent or guardian declaring through a signature that the student lives at a particular address. It does not need to be issued by another party or notarized. The school district can choose to accept other types of residency verification not listed. Multiple proofs of residency should not be required. Schools must verify residency of the student annually. That can be done through a data verification process and or the housing questionnaire. It is not required nor necessary to request a proof of residency each year for a returning student. That is only necessary upon initial enrollment. Schools may also request documents to determine a student's age to support the determination of grade level placement. Family should be notified of the full range of documents that will be accepted as proof of age. Birth certificate. Baptismal record, statement by the local registrar or county recorder. Passport, prior school records, verification of release form, or an affidavit of the parent guardian declaring the date of birth of the child. Review your enrollment process and other information, such as the website or school handbook to ensure that it does not indicate that a birth certificate is required to show proof of age. Once age has been verified, a school is not mandated to maintain the proof of age, particularly if the document indicates national origin, citizenship, or immigration status. Those documents should be returned or destroyed once the age and the means of verifying the age are documented in the School wide Information system. Students who are enrolling are required to provide official proof of having received mandatory vaccinations unless they meet one of the exemption criteria mentioned earlier. Refugee students may have a vaccination record from the Office of Refugee Resettlement. This is a compliant vaccination record. If families are without records or missing doses or have foreign shot records that cannot be understood, refer them to the local Health Center or San Diego County Health Department. The San Diego County Health Department can help with translations of shot records. Please note that immunization requirements do not prohibit students from accessing special education and related services required by the Individualized Education Programs following enrollment. Our immigrant, migrant, refugee, unaccompanied, or homeless children may still face barriers to accessing their education due to limited English proficiency of them or their parents, interrupted formal schooling, or incomplete academic records. Schools can address these barriers by offering language assistance services to students who have limited English proficiency, having systems to conduct language proficiency assessments for children who arrive during the school year. Make information about enrollment, classes, and other educational programs and activities accessible to those who have limited English proficiency. Schools must ensure that students identified as English learners may participate in the standard instructional program of a school. Schools must make local decisions about a student's grade level placement in the best interest of the student when academic records are limited. Finally, school should be aware of coursework and graduation exemptions available to newcomer students, with increased discussion and attention focused on immigration policies. There may be a heightened risk for students being subject to bullying, harassment, or hate speech or violence related to their real or perceived nationality, ethnicity, or immigration status. As school personnel, we must be responsive when these instances occur. School districts are required to have policies that prohibit discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying based on a student's actual or perceived nationality, ethnicity, or immigration status. School personnel who witness an act of discrimination or harassment or intimidation or bullying shall take immediate steps to intervene and to report the incident. All reports should be investigated promptly and a support plan initiated for any of the students involved. The complaint process must contain confidentiality safeguards if it involves information regarding the students immigration status, one of the elements our schools respond to daily. I request for records. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, FERPA, is a federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records. Under FERPA, educational records may only be released with written consent from the student's parent or educational rights holder. The written consent must be signed and dated by the parent or by the eligible student before disclosure of the information and must specify the records that may be disclosed, the purpose of the disclosure, and the party or class of parties to whom the disclosure may be made. Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent to release any information from a student's educational record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records without consent, and there's a legitimate educational interest of the requester. A school may also provide information without consent in response to a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena. The parent should be notified of any judicial order or subpoena before the school complies, unless it involves a child welfare matter. If a school receives an information request related to a student or family's immigration or citizenship status, document what was requested, notify the school principal or a school district official about the information request, and provide families with appropriate notice and a description of the immigration officers request. Many enrollment forms will ask families to opt in or out of the sharing of directory information. It is critical that the family is informed of what directory information is and who it may be shared with before choosing to opt in or out. Directory information is defined as information contained in a student record that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the school to include information from the student education records in certain school and our district publications. Directory information does not include a student's Social Security number, citizenship status, immigration status, place of birth, or any other information indicating national origin or McKinney Vento status. Directory information cannot be released to immigration enforcement agencies without parent consent, court order, or a judicial warrant. If an immigration officer or agency comes to a school or contact school employees, it may be under the premise or presentation of having an ICE warrant. An ICE administrative warrant is the most typical type of warrant used by immigration officers. An ICE warrant authorizes an immigration officer to arrest a person suspected of violating immigration laws. An ICE warrant is not a court order. It is not signed by a judge or magistrate. It does not grant an immigration officer access to non public areas of school grounds. Non public areas of the school are those that cannot be entered without the expressed authorization of school officials. An ICE warrant does not allow immigration officers access to student information or to search school records. A request by an immigration enforcement agency or officer to access non public areas of campus or to access student information can only be authorized if the officer provides a written order signed by a federal judge or the officer declares exigent circumstances which would mean an immediate threat to health and safety. The officer does not need to justify that declaration, and if they do, the school should immediately comply with the order. If immigration agencies or officers request information or come to a school, they should be treated as any other visitor who does not have authorized business with the school. The following actions can be taken in accordance with state and federal law. Immediately notify the site principal of the request, who will reach out to their assigned district administrator for further review. The San Diego County Office of Education is providing further training for school administrators and district officials on the handling of these requests. Do not provide access to students or information on students unless compelled to do so by a court order or informed by the immigration officer that exigent circumstances exist. Do not give permission for the officer to enter non public areas of the campus such as classrooms, cafeteria, playgrounds, unless compelled to do so by court order or that declaration of exigent circumstances. Notify parents immediately of the officer's request pertaining to them, unless you are prohibited from doing so by a court order. Provide parents with a copy of any documents that had been provided by the immigration officer. Escort the officer off campus in the same way that you would any other visitor who is determined to not have business on the campus after the principal has received the request and determined the required response. Our students do have protections, including under the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution. A law enforcement officer, including school district police and immigration enforcement officers, cannot, for the purpose of investigating non criminal immigration violations, detain a student by preventing them from leaving campus or taking them out of class. Let's review some common scenarios that may arise as you support students and families. An individual who is housing an unaccompanied minor comes to enroll the student at your school. The student is considered unaccompanied because they are not in the care of a parent or legal guardian. We'll provide the individual with a caregiver's authorization affidavit giving them the rights to enroll the student and make school related decisions. If the student is over the age of 16, they are the educational rights holder. It is in the responsibility of the school district under the leadership of the Homeless Liaison to make a determination of Mckenney Vento eligibility based on an understanding and application of the definition of homeless. The student may be considered homeless because the student does not have a fixed living situation. The individual who is providing care may have a fixed, regular and adequate living situation, but if there is no obligation legally for the student to be with them, then it could be considered a shared housing situation for the student per the McKinney Vento definition, If the student has been determined to be unaccompanied and homeless, ensure no delay in enrolling the student even if they are not able to produce normally required enrollment documents. Another common scenario, a parent who resides in the boundary of your school and district wishes to enroll the student in school. The parent asks if the school requires a birth certificate because they do not have one available. First ask the parent what do they have to determine if they have a document that meets criteria as a proof of age. Avoid asking the parent the reason they do not have a birth certificate. Review the documents they have. Record the age and the means by which age was verified. Copies of that documentation do not need to be maintained once it's been entered into your school wide information system. If they do not have any documents, provide them with the template Affidavit of birth. Another scenario, a teacher notifies the principal that a student stated that their caretaking parent was detained by immigration officers and the student has been staying with a family friend. First, make attempts to contact the parent. If the parent cannot be reached, reach out to emergency contacts assigned to the student. Look to see if the student has other siblings within the school or district. Avoid adding information regarding the parents immigration status that's determined to the school wide information system. Provide that caretaking individual with a caregiver's authorization affidavit. If the caregiving individual lives outside the boundaries of the school district, determine the best interest of the student for continued school enrollment. If a McKinney Vento determination has been made the student is homeless and unaccompanied, they have rights to remain in their school of origin. If the parent has been forced out of the state against their will, the student will meet residency requirements of the school only if the previous criteria don't apply. You may utilize the School District Interdistrict Attendance Permit to ensure continuity of school placement. In our final scenario, an immigration officer comes to the school and asks for a student's address claiming federal business. A site administrator should be summoned to take over the interaction with the officer. Have a staff member inform the Superintendent or designee that an immigration officer is on campus. Do not provide the information even if the parent has opted into directory information being shared. Ask to see and make a copy of the officer's information and any documents presented by the officer. Make note of the interaction on the officer's request and written permission from the parent or a court order or a declaration of exigent circumstances is required to release student information. Notify the parent guardian of the request and provide them a copy of the documentation that the Immigration officer showed. The following are resources that were mentioned during the presentation that will assist you in your efforts to provide a welcoming environment to all students and families. We thank you for your attention and engagement and for all you do to support students and families throughout this county. We are here to support you.