DAYTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The Safe and Welcoming School District Resolution:

WHEREAS, Dayton Public Schools is committed to providing safe and welcoming spaces where all students are able to focus on their education, secure in the knowledge that the District will support their safety and emotional wellbeing regardless of immigration status, national origin, sexual orientation, race, or religion; and

WHEREAS, all persons in Dayton Public Schools, regardless of their disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic are afforded equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the district; and WHEREAS, the Board is committed to protecting students’ constitutional rights including their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and their constitutional right to access a free public K-12 education; and WHEREAS, the Board finds that federal immigration law enforcement activities at our schools, on our transportation routes, on our District property, or during our school activities will significantly disrupt the learning environment and will significantly interfere with our students’ constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizures and to access a free public education; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the District shall do everything in its lawful power to protect our students’ confidential information and ensure that our students’ learning environments are not disrupted by immigration enforcement actions, including but not limited to the following actions:

■ The District will continue its practice to not collect or maintain any information about our students’ immigration status.

■ Any request by a federal immigration official (a) for entry into any District school or other District property, (b) to communicate with any student while that student is under the supervision of the District during any school activity or while using District transportation, or (c) for any information about our students shall be immediately forwarded to the District’s Office of General Counsel.

■ In responding to such requests, the District’s Office of General Counsel will not share information or provide access to our students unless required by law and will do everything in the District’s lawful power to protect the constitutional and legal rights of the District’s students.

■ For example, the Office of General Counsel will not grant access to our students unless the official presents a valid search warrant issued by a federal or state judge or magistrate. In very narrow and rare “exigent circumstances,” which are defined by federal law, District employees are legally required to allow access without a valid search warrant. It is extremely unlikely that exigent circumstances will be present while our students are engaged in school activities because exigent circumstances generally involve situations where law enforcement is in hot pursuit of a fleeing criminal suspect or where evidence of a crime is about to be destroyed.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the District shall provide training, and additional resources if needed, for its existing crisis and emergency response teams in order to help ensure the safety and well-being of our students who may be impacted by immigration enforcement actions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the District shall post this Resolution at every school site and distribute it to District staff and parents in all the predominantly used languages of the District; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Superintendent shall update any policies and procedures necessary to implement and shall broadly communicate the commitments of this Resolution.