Richmond Public Schools prepare for possibility of immigration officers coming to campuses 

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Richmond City Public Schools are preparing for the possibility of immigration officers coming to campuses.  

Discussed in a meeting Monday, Feb. 3, Richmond City School Board leaders reiterated that federal immigration agents will not be allowed to show up to schools and take students. They said there will be a written process immigration agencies must follow. 

This comes after President Donald Trump signed executive orders to crackdown on illegal immigration. The school board will meet Tuesday, Feb. 4, to discuss revisions to the schools’ law enforcement policy and how schools will handle officers coming to campuses.

Superintendent Jason Kamras said there will be a presentation going over the exact procedure staff will follow to give clarity to families and staff on how schools will handle a situation where immigration officers do show up to a school -- from teachers to bus drivers.  

That protocol now says school personnel cannot allow immigration agents onto school property without proper permission and a signed warrant or subpoena. If immigration officers do show up to a school, staff will need to get the principal who will then notify the Superintendent's Office, verify the warrant if they have one, and notify the students’ family immediately.   

If an immigration agency requests students’ information, it will have to go through the superintendent's office to make sure it doesn’t violate the student's or family's privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).   

"We support this forward thinking to make sure that we're protecting all of our students,” District Six School Board member Dr. Shonda Harris-Muhammed said during the work session. “It’s unfortunate that we even have to have this written... When you’re in that action, and you’ve been trained to protect your kids and your staff... sometimes protocols go out the door.”  

Harris-Muhammed also said that this is affecting the entire school division, and that one school had nearly 500 absences on Monday, Feb. 3.

Last week, Superintendent Jason Kamras delivered a message of support to immigrant families and students.

“No matter who you are, where you come from or how you define yourself, we will always do everything humanly possible to protect you and keep you safe,” Kamras said in a video message on social media.

The school board will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at Richmond City Hall.