The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday, Nov. 19, reaffirming its previous declaration as a “sanctuary district” that will stand against an anticipated ramping up of federal deportation efforts.
The board — acting on the same day the Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance formally declaring L.A. a sanctuary city — adopted a resolution restating an LAUSD sanctuary policy originally enacted in 2017 and calling for training of teachers and staff about how they should respond if approached by federal immigrations authorities.
Under the resolution, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was instructed to develop a plan within 60 days outlining the district’s support for immigrant students and staff. The plan will “include training for all teachers, administrators, and other staff on how to respond to federal agencies and any immigration personnel who request information about students, families, and staff, and/or are attempting to enter school property, as well as a thorough effort to communicate the district’s sanctuary policy and plan to all district families in the language that they speak.
The resolution also states that the district will “aggressively oppose any effort to create federal laws, policies, or practices that require school districts to cooperate with federal agencies and immigration personnel in any way related to immigration enforcement action.”
LAUSD board member Jackie Goldberg, who brought the resolution before the board on one of her final meetings before retiring, said she wanted to reaffirm the district’s sanctuary position, which was first adopted in 2017, during the first Donald Trump presidential administration.
“That was 2016-17, and the guy’s back,” Goldberg said of Trump. “And he’s going to try even harder to disrupt families, disrupt communities.”
She added, “We know what’s coming. They said what’s coming. We want to tell our students, families and all our personnel that you are welcome here and we will do everything in our power to protect your ability to go to school or work here.”
Former LAUSD board member Monica Garcia, who authored the original sanctuary resolution in 2017, spoke to the board Tuesday in support of the new resolution.
“Thank you for rising up and sharing with our children and families that they belong here and that this district will follow our nation’s law, welcoming every child to come to school,” Garcia said. “… There are families who are separated and traumatized because of the fear of what is to come. We will continue to ask them to come to school and give us their very best.”
Board member Kelly Gonez said it is important for the district to send a message to students and staff that “we will do everything in our legal power to protect them no matter what,” and to assure students that “there are 60,000 staff members who stand united to protect them.”
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the district has a “professional and moral responsibility” to stand strong in support of all of its students and staff, regardless of immigration status. He noted that he was once an “undocumented immigrant,” and said the district cannot allow the “politics of fear” to keep students out of classrooms and staffers away from work.