Immigration Authority Interactions

The McGraw Central School District is committed to protecting the safety, privacy, and educational rights of all students, regardless of immigration status. The District has established procedures for responding to requests from immigration authorities and for supporting students whose parents or guardians may be detained or deported.

Designated Review Authority & Incident Reporting

• Sole Approving Official: The Superintendent of Schools serves as the sole designated authority responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and authorizing or denying any request from federal or local law enforcement and immigration authorities to enter district grounds, inspect records, or to take custody of any student.

• Staff Reporting Mandate: All district personnel receiving inquiries, visits, or document requests from immigration enforcement officials must immediately notify and route the officers to the Superintendent of Schools who will work with district legal counsel before taking any further action. While the Superintendent and school attorney are assessing the request, school personnel should not allow officers inside school property, including school buses, except to address an imminent safety situation.

• Official Identification Logging: District personnel must request official credentials and document the full name, badge number, and agency of any visiting officer for district records.

Access, Custody, & Transportation Protocols

• Judicial Warrant Requirement: District staff shall not grant immigration or law enforcement officials access to school property, school vehicles, or permit the transfer of student custody without a valid judicial warrant or court order signed by a judge of a competent federal or state court. Requests shall be immediately referred to the Superintendent of Schools who will work with district legal counsel before taking any further action. Requests should not be fulfilled by District personnel without authorization from the Superintendent.

• Insufficiency of Administrative Documents: Administrative warrants, civil immigration detainers, or ICE-issued forms are strictly insufficient as a legal basis to grant school access or surrender student custody.

Emergency Placement & Student Safety Safeguards

• Emergency Contact Planning: The District regularly requests that families review and update emergency contact information and encourages families to designate multiple emergency contacts. Families are also made aware of the option to designate another person as a person in parental relation to their minor children, consistent with Board of Education Policy #7260.

• Protocol for Unavailable Parents: If a parent or guardian is detained or unavailable due to an immigration enforcement action, school personnel must safely retain the student on school premises.

• Exhaustion of Emergency Contacts: Staff must attempt to reach every secondary emergency contact listed in the student's file before taking alternative custody steps.

• Statewide Central Register (SCR) Restriction: Contacting the Statewide Central Register for Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR) is strictly prohibited unless all reasonable efforts to locate and release the student to an authorized emergency contact have been completely exhausted.

School Resource Officer

School Resource Officers must uphold undocumented students' right to attend school without fear of adverse immigration consequences. School Resource Officers may not detain or interrogate students to determine their immigration status. The Fourth Amendment prohibits SROs from detaining or questioning a student unless the SRO has reasonable suspicion that the student has violated school policy or committed an illegal act that threatened the "special needs of school safety." Such actions only should be undertaken under the direction of a school official, and only to investigate the suspected policy violation or illegal act. A student's immigration status does not implicate school safety or school policy, and will never justify a detention or interrogation on school grounds.