Join us this Wednesday, April 12 at 6 p.m. at the Roaring Fork School District's school board meeting in Carbondale (400 Sopris Ave) to let the school district know that it is not ok for federal immigration enforcement agencies to be invited to enter our schools.
The school district and Glenwood Springs High School violated the community’s trust when they allowed Border Patrol to enter campus during a student career expo on March 21. The school district made public commitments back in 2011 when three local School Resource Officers, assigned to local schools, were accused of working with ICE to deport students and their families. And in 2016, the school board finally passed a safe haven resolution, detailing how the school district would protect students and families and publicly affirmed that our public schools "shall provide a [safe] haven for all students and their families."
Border Patrol and any other federal immigration enforcement agency do not belong in schools. We need the school district to take responsibility for this grave violation of trust and reassure the community that this will never happen again by strengthening district policies and regulations, providing training to all staff and establishing an ad-hoc oversight committee of impacted students, parents and community members that can help inform these next steps.
We need action from the school district. Here are our four demands:
The superintendent, school board and Glenwood Springs High School principal need to take responsibility and apologize for violating the community’s trust and public agreements established in 2011 and again in 2016. (Update: The superintendent, 4 out of the 5 school board members and the GSHS principal have apologized as of April 6, 2023).
The school board needs to codify the principles from the Safe Haven resolution, dated December 2016, in district policy and regulations to prevent any confusion, and further clarify that the district will not invite any federal agency, whose mission is to enforce federal immigration laws, to any campus, for any reason, unless compelled by a court order.
The school board needs to approve any additional policies and regulations to hold schools and any third-party organization doing business or partnering with the school district accountable for violations to any safe haven provision.
The school district needs to provide additional training to all school district staff on existing and new policies, regulations, resolutions, protocols and public commitments related to being a safe haven school district.
The superintendent needs to create and convene an ad-hoc advisory committee of impacted students, parents and community members to advise the superintendent and the school district on any additional steps needed to reassure the community that this will never happen again.
Contact Alan Muñoz Valenciano at alan@vocesunidas.org or 970-340-8504 if you have any questions.
How to show support and/or sign up to testify
It's simple. You can just show up for moral support or share your story about how this incident made you feel and its impact on our community. Anyone can sign up to testify in person, virtually or simply provide online comments. Spanish speakers may request an interpreter by calling 970-384-6004 or 970-384-6000.