At the urging of Voces Unidas, the Roaring Fork School District Board of Education unanimously approved a Safe Haven Policy protecting the rights and well-being of immigrant students on school grounds at the board’s monthly meeting Wednesday night.
More than a year in the making, the new policy codifies principles from the Safe Haven Resolution dating back to December of 2016, which was designed to ensure a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all students and families. Recognition of district schools as “sensitive locations” where federal immigration agents are prohibited from making arrests without a valid judicial warrant is a central tenet to the policy.
“Federal immigration enforcement agencies do not belong in schools,” said Alex Sánchez, CEO of Voces Unidas. “We commend the brave parents and students who joined forces with Voces Unidas to demand accountability for creating a safe space for immigrant students. We look forward to continuing to work with the school district as they implement this new policy district-wide.”
Impetus for drafting the Safe Haven Policy was driven by a violation of the community’s trust when Glenwood Springs High School invited federal Border Patrol agents to enter campus during a student career expo on March 21, 2023. The school district had made public commitments back in 2011, after 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."
Following the 2023 event, Voces Unidas began increasing pressure on district officials to take action assuring that similar incidents would not occur. Among the advocacy group’s demands was the promise to codify the principles from the 2016 Safe Haven Resolution in district policy, further clarifying 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 policy approved Wednesday night fulfills that directive while also decreeing that the Roaring Fork School District does not discriminate based on immigration status or other circumstances, will not partner with law enforcement to conduct immigration enforcement activities, and will not disclose student records to non-school officials for the purpose of immigration enforcement, among other provisions.
“This policy and the regulations that will follow will create and ensure safety for all students and families,” said Alan Muñoz, Regional Manager for Voces Unidas. “Specifically, this policy will prevent past violations of trust from reoccurring, including allowing SROs to have any involvement with immigration enforcement activities and preventing immigration enforcement agencies like Border Patrol from being invited to campus. To be frank, it is a policy that should have been implemented 10 years ago.”
The full text of the Safe Haven Policy is available here.