The Penn Hills School Board is considering a new safety protocol for students and staff.
According to district solicitor Chelsea Dice, the protocol stipulates what steps staff members are expected to take should a federal agency — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — enter a district building requesting information regarding a student or employee.
“If there’s no valid court order, no warrant, no subpoena or no consent by the appropriate individual, then we would recommend that they have to leave the building,” Dice said.
She said the district will not entertain any requests from ICE or other federal agencies without district officials verifying documents presented, if any, from the agency making the request.
“I don’t feel anyone should be able to come in and take anyone out of our schools or our communities,” said school board President Erin Vecchio. “These are families. They work and live in the community.”
The board will continue to discuss the policy at its next regular public voting meeting on Feb. 25. The board was set to host agenda and discussion meetings on Feb. 11 and 18.
Dice said in the case of a Penn Hills student attending the Forbes Road Career & Technical Center, staff there is expected to tell the agency to directly reach out to the district.
“We don’t want families to be scared,” Dice said. “We want them to know we’re going to protect their kids.”
Dice said the protocol’s creation began when staff from the Forbes Road center began asking questions during a Jan. 22 meeting. The trade school serves the Allegheny Valley, East Allegheny, Gateway, Highlands, Penn Hills, Plum, Riverview, Wilkinsburg and Woodland Hills school districts.
“It’s dynamic,” Dice said. “We’re all learning and trying to figure what the best way to handle this is.”
She said the Pennsylvania School Boards Association has not offered guidance for any protocol despite being the organization school boards look to when there’s a law or protocol change that impacts school districts.
According to PSBA communications director Mackenzie Christ, PSBA has provided ongoing guidance to members on immigration‑related issues based on current state and federal laws and regulations.
“These members‑only resources include the publication regarding legal considerations for schools and a CLE‑eligible webinar for attorneys,” Christ said in an email. “PSBA will continue to keep members informed and will issue additional guidance if new laws are enacted or relevant court decisions are issued.”
In neighboring Oakmont, Jose Flores, 47, was taken by ICE agents on Jan. 29 after being approached in front of his home while preparing to take his daughter, Lily, to school. The 8-year-old is an elementary school student in the Riverview School District.
Flores — originally from Nicaragua — was being held in the Northern Regional Correctional Facility and Jail near Moundsville, W.Va., according to ICE’s detainee locator. His wife, Hariett, also from Nicaragua, said they are in the legal asylum process and have five-year work permits.
“Because it’s becoming more well known and close to home, my school board wants something in place,” Dice said.
Following the incident, the Riverview School Board presented a policy outlining the actions to be taken by staff and teachers if any law enforcement agency comes to a district building inquiring about a specific student or staff member.
“I think that (incident) really shook the core of our community as a whole, but also as our district, because, you know, we may not have thought that that was possible in Oakmont,” said Antonio Paris, Riverview’s school board president. “I think we continue to learn that anything is possible.”
Paris said Riverview’s policy establishes steps for staff and teachers to follow that adhere to laws while protecting those within the district as much as possible. Paris said the board wants everyone in the district to feel cared for.
“The policy is not meant to perturb law enforcement agents,” Paris said.
One guideline the Riverview policy states is that student and staff information will not be given out without the presentation of a judicial warrant.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law adopted in 1974, requires staff and teachers to protect student information.
Vecchio said the Penn Hills community and its school district have voiced support for a resolution.
“If this comes to our community, this is going to be devastating,” Vecchio said. “They’re disrupting families.”