Sarasota district officials say current procedures will not change.
Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: Feb. 7, 2025
Host: Churches, hospitals and schools used to be off-limits for the federal immigration police. Not any longer. President Donald Trump decreed that ICE officers can now enter these sensitive public premises. Sarasota School Board members and the superintendent discussed their response this week, and Ramon Lopez has this report.
Photo via flickr.com/photos/us_icegov
Ramon Lopez: The Sarasota School Board discussed immigration enforcement at a workshop this week, as prompted by Sarasota School Superintendent Terry Connor. It’s been a hot button issue since Trump issued an executive order to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. And the Trump administration rescinded a rule that created “protected areas” from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Removed was Biden-era guidance that blocked ICE agents from schools, places of worship and health care facilities.
Florida’s education department will comply with the Trump directive, saying “Florida schools will cooperate with all law enforcement working to enforce the nation’s laws on illegal immigration.” But it was left unclear whether that allows immigration agents on public school grounds for ICE raids. And so far, federal agents have not appeared at any Sarasota County school.
With all this in mind, Superintendent Connor summarized the county’s current school policy regarding such matters. He said standard operating procedure is to provide a safe learning environment while continuing to adhere to relevant privacy laws regarding student records. And Connor said county schools do not keep information related to a student’s immigration status.
Terry Connor.
Terry Connor: I do know that we’re having a lot of national attention on this. Locally as well. We are getting a lot of communication sent to us directly around this, and I want to be sure that all families know that our primary focus is always the safety and education of students. We will continue to follow our current operating procedures that are in place. Those are what we’re going to continue to do, and that’s sufficient in the case of what the dialogue has been regarding immigration enforcement.
We’re going to adhere to FERPA, which is student privacy laws. We follow that. We always have. We do not track immigration status of students. We wouldn’t know who is illegal, legal—we don’t track that. We’re always going to adhere to FERPA and to student privacy regulations.
RL: Connor outlined what would happen if any outside law enforcement officer shows up on campus.
TC: In terms of law enforcement, our policy is consistent and will continue to be. It doesn’t matter what the law enforcement agency is. We have a process to verify a law enforcement agent that comes to a school in the event they want to interview a child, in the event they’re coming to do a student records request—all of that, we have policy and procedure that we continue to follow just as we always have. We will fulfill any legal order that is given to us once that is verified, and we will comply with the law.
RL: Connor’s remarks drew comments from various Sarasota School Board members. New Board Member Liz Barker:
Sarasota County School Board members. Photo via sarasotacountyschools.net
Liz Barker: I think it’s important for us to address what’s going on in our community right now, and this has been something that, every single day, people have spoken to me about their fear and their concern about immigration in schools. Whether or not that’s founded, that’s a discussion that’s happening in our community. From the toilet paper aisle at Costco to my emails to my phone, people are fearful right now, and parents are—my personal friends are asking, “Do I need to send my students with their passport? Copies of their passport? Copies of their birth certificate?”
I do think, as a community, it’s something that we’re going to have to talk about and tackle. It’s not going away. We’ve seen other districts who have made comments about it one way or another. I feel very confident that, here in Sarasota County, our priorities are safe schools, safe students—that we will follow the law, we will work within the bounds of the law, but that we will prioritize families and prioritize students within the bounds of the law. In order to do that, we have to have a clear understanding of what the law is right now. And it’ll change. We already know things are changing—things are in flux—but I would love for us to communicate clearly about what we’re doing, what our current policy is—and I believe our current policy is within the bounds of the law, that any time a member of outside law enforcement—we have a way that we handle that—comes onto our campus—and I think our principals are aware of that. But I do know that there are some teachers who are feeling uncertain and certainly some families and parents who are feeling uncertain. It extends to students. There is a sense of unease right now with our students. My children’s friends are asking me, “What’s going to happen to the custodian? What’s going to happen to our favorite cafeteria lady?”
RL: Board Member Tom Edwards:
Tom Edwards: We do not want schools to ever, ever not be a safe place for children. Ever. And we don’t want children to have to witness any kind of behavior that would be pejorative to another child, especially under armed forces.
Photo via flickr.com/photos/us_icegov
RL: Board Member Bridget Ziegler:
Bridget Ziegler: There is no intention to deliberately be going into schools. That is a narrative that is false, and it was done intentionally to create the fear that we’re seeing, and it breaks my heart to know that there are families that are fearful for whatever reason. Our hiring practices are such that we ensure that we have people who are lawfully able to work within this state and country. Therefore, if you are not breaking laws, there is nothing to be fearful of.
RL: Some are calling for more action. Support Our Schools, or SOS, a Sarasota-based organization, says county schools must be prepared for ICE interventions with clear and publicly stated policies that outline district protocol and protect student rights. It says the school system should provide information to parents, guardians and students on the school district’s policies regarding ICE requests for student information, student interviews or pupil detainment. SOS also wants families briefed on their legal rights should they be approached by an ICE agent. Those rights include the right to remain silent and the right to seek an attorney.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.