Time to Call for an EMERGENCY School Board Meeting
Trump rescinds law protecting immigrant students
Emergency meetings or town halls wouldn’t need to be called if Sarasota School Superintendent Terry Connor hadn’t cut back public meetings from two times monthly to once a month. This stunning change took place in January 2025, right as a new administration, that is hostile to public schools, was being sworn in.
We ask Connor in urgency to call a meeting regarding ICE agents coming into the public school system and possibly hauling our scared immigrant kids out of class and into custody of the government. Can this happen?
A quick review:
In 2011, then-President Obama passed a law that ICE could not carry out immigration raids at or near schools - or other sensitive locations like places of worship, hospitals. . . unless an “exigent circumstance exists”, such as a national security threat.
President Trump just rescinded that safety net for students across the United States.
Former Sarasota Herald-Tribune Education Reporter, Steven Walker, now working for the Orlando Sentinel, has written an informative article on how the Orange County (Fl) school district will be handling this madness.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom informed the schools of their rights to protect their students immediately after the results of the November elections. The California Attorney General also issued guidance to k-12 public schools regarding the protection of immigrant students.
Some school districts are training school staff on the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for responding to law enforcement requests. A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case states that school districts could not deny services to students based on their immigration status.
Walker’s article disclosed that in 1990, “the Florida Department of Education entered a legal agreement after it was sued, stating that it would not ask about students’ immigration status — nor refer students to federal immigration authorities. Both those cases still legally guide public schools.”
Districts across the country have adopted “safe zone” regulations. Let’s hope that Sarasota follows suit in an intent to protect students from federal immigration enforcement.
The public needs to hear from the School Board Attorneys and the superintendent on what they are planning to do to assuage the fears of student and teachers via protection.
This is too critical of a time for teachers, staff and the public to be left out in the dark. A statement or press release doesn’t replace the face-to-face, two-way dialogue and reach that a meeting will. Media and YouTube venues will spread the information.
Mr. Connor, please call for that meeting now.
If you believe a meeting is pertinent to this recent decision and would like more information, write to:
terry.connor@sarasotaschools.net (note: There is no ‘s’ at the end of Connor)
As of this writing (January 24, 12:30), there has been no news on the district’s website regarding this protection being taken away.
I'm sure you randomly pulled that photo of kids with the Superintendent from the district website, but it's pretty serendipitous that the young lady pictured right below his arm is a Mexican immigrant. I know this because I was her lunch lady when she arrived in the USA three years ago. She didn't know a word of English, but was so eager to learn and cultivate friendships with her peers. I always encouraged her, and when she returned to school after her first summer break, she was completely fluent in English! The thought of having our kids forcibly removed from our schools is just unconscionable. These are innocent children of adults who wanted their kids to have a better life in our beautiful country. I am angry and I am sad and I hope that our teachers and staff will protect our kids.
This and many of the other Trump fiats are unconscionable. We need to start our own insurrection.