(The Center Square) – Spokane Public Schools adopted a standalone immigration policy on Wednesday that requires federal agents to obtain the superintendent’s permission to access the district’s property.
The SPS Board of Directors unanimously adopted the proposal, which the officials said largely mirrored existing language “buried” in a broader law enforcement policy. It follows the state Attorney General’s Office’s model policy, which directs public schools to adopt measures to limit immigration enforcement.
While immigration advocates and an SPS teacher applauded Policy 4300 during their public testimony, they also suggested that it didn’t go far enough. The board called the measure a “solid step forward,” but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement disagreed, in a statement emailed to The Center Square.
“ICE is not going to schools to arrest children — we are protecting children. Criminals are no longer able to hide in America’s schools to avoid arrest,” the agency responded to a request for comment in a statement mirroring that of former Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin last year.
The ICE statement provided to The Center Square said that if a dangerous criminal immigrant illegally in the country flees into a nearby school, or if a sex offender is an employee, there could be an arrest.
“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense … there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect public safety. But this has not happened,” the agency wrote in an email, listing immigrants arrested across Washington state.
According to Policy 4300, SPS will not grant access to “nonpublic” areas of district property, equipment or databases to immigration authorities without the superintendent’s permission.
If ICE shows up, SPS must direct them to the school principal, who would then request to see a court order or judicial warrant.
The new policy requires a court order or warrant to list the purpose of enforcement, the specific search location, the name of the person agents are seeking, the current date and include a judge’s signature.
The superintendent would then determine whether SPS should allow access before notifying parents.
“We vetted our policy through legal counsel multiple times. I mean, it has been a year in the making, right, because of the iterations, and to make sure that what we’re saying we can actually do,” SPS Deputy Superintendent Heather Bybee said Wednesday, “and that becomes an interesting line in these times.”
The Spokane City Council has a similar policy that prohibits federal agents from accessing “nonpublic” events without a court order or warrant and has also adopted “immigration enforcement free zones.”
Democrats proposed a state law earlier this year that would have directed higher education institutions and health care facilities to designate certain areas of their properties as “nonpublic” to limit immigration enforcement; it passed the Senate, with every Republican in opposition, before stalling in the House.
Critics argued that the state proposal was based on virtue signaling and would create confusion for public schools, universities and health care providers. They said in public hearings earlier this year that the state doesn’t have the authority to regulate how the federal government enforces federal law.
SPS teacher Scott Ward testified Wednesday, calling on the board to adopt “bold and firm policies that keep federal agents from disrupting learning and lives of our immigrant students.” He cited an incident from last year when a Spokane student was detained, though that occurred at an ICE facility, not SPS.
“These policies are a solid step forward. They’re not perfect, they’re not the end result, but they’re, I think, the right direction for our district,” SPS board member Michael Wiser said Wednesday.
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