State education officials are making it clear that Virginia’s public schools are safe places for undocumented students. In a memo to local superintendents Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Education issued guidance on what to do if federal immigration authorities come knocking.
The memo starts out by saying Virginia schools have an obligation to educate regardless of immigration status.
For school administrators that means they’re not allowed to ask an enrolling student about their citizenship or visa status.
Those rules aren’t new, but Virginia’s Department of Education is choosing now to re-iterate them now, as rumors swirl about President Trump’s tougher stance on immigration.
Historically, federal immigration officials haven’t come to schools asking for information -- but if they do, the memo encourages school administrators to have a working relationship with an immigration advisor or attorney.
It also advises schools to come up with a policy for what to do with a student should their parent or guardian be detained.
You can read the memo here.
