Bryan Lindstrom’s students were missing when the first-period bell rang at Aurora’s Hinkley High School on Jan. 30. One slipped in minutes later, followed by another. But the 12 other students in his African American history course never appeared that morning.
A similar trend played out not just in Lindstrom’s other classes, but in other buildings across the Aurora Public Schools district amid news reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had planned raids in the city on that day last week, according to teachers who spoke to The Denver Post.
“The fear I have heard and seen out of students and families is the worst I’ve seen,” Lindstrom said. “(Last) Thursday, in particular, there was a fear of ICE in schools, specifically.”
On Wednesday, just as attendance was recovering, the federal government launched large-scale immigration enforcement operations in Aurora and Denver, with sometimes-masked officers knocking on apartment doors demanding residents show identification.
For more than a decade, schools were off limits for immigration officials. But the Trump administration last month revoked a 2011 policy that previously prevented arrests at schools and other “sensitive” locations, such as churches. The change in federal immigration policy has spurred the Aurora and Denver districts to train school staff on what to do if ICE agents show up on campus.
School boards governing both districts have also reaffirmed their support for all students regardless of immigration status — a step that the Aurora Board of Education took by passing a new resolution the evening before the immigration raids.
“We do stand behind our families and our staff and our students,” board president Anne Keke said during the board’s meeting Tuesday evening.
None of Wednesday’s raids took place in schools, but the fear they could have now was apparent in statements issued by state and local officials.
“In Colorado, we have a proud history of leading the way in ensuring that our public schools are places where every student feels safe and supported,” Colorado State Board of Education Chair Rebecca McClellan said in a statement. “Colorado state law protects individuals from discrimination and harassment in schools based on national origin. At the federal level, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision affirms the right of every student to a free public education.”
A false rumor also spread among a group of state legislators Wednesday morning that ICE officers had either waited at bus stops for families or had actually stopped a school bus. Instead, ICE activity at the Cedar Run Apartments complex prevented Denver Public Schools’ buses from reaching a stop and five buses were re-routed, district spokesman Scott Pribble said.
“This morning, we learned of activity by law enforcement officials at an apartment complex in our community,” DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero said in a letter to families and staff. “At this time, there has been no law enforcement activity in our schools.”
Aurora Public Schools also did not have ICE agents waiting at its bus stops Wednesday, spokesman Corey Christiansen said.
The fear that ICE agents could show up at schools has led students to miss class in the past week — even before Wednesday’s raids, Lindstrom said.
Aurora Public Schools didn’t have data immediately available that showed how widespread student absences were, but Abbey Winter, a reading interventionist, said about 70 students were absent from the Aurora elementary school were she works on Jan. 30, the reported original date for the metro Denver raids.
“There’s an apprehension,” she said. “There’s definitely a notable shift in who’s missing.”
Lindstrom said attendance in his classes was slightly below normal Wednesday, but not as low as it was the previous week when he only had two students in his first period.
“Families weren’t aware of (the raids) until they already sent students to school and likely felt they were safer staying at school than leaving during that time and/or were already at work,” he said, adding, “I think people realize that the most dangerous point is the transition to and from schools, so staying home or staying at school is the safest place for them.”
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