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The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution last week that states that the district will not allow any U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on its campuses without a valid warrant or that it will not share any student or family information with immigration authorities unless required by law.
The resolution — which also doubles down on the district’s commitment to provide all children with equal access to education, regardless of immigration status — was introduced as a response to increased concerns stemming from President Donald Trump’s commitments to scale up ICE operations.
Evan Branning, president of the Association of Pleasanton Teachers, asked the board to pull the item from its consent calendar, which are items considered routine in nature and are typically approved by a single vote, because he believed it deserved further discussion given how immigration concerns are actively affecting some PUSD students and families.
“I’ve heard from my fellow teachers that students are already missing school for fear of raids, of interruptions to their education,” Branning said Jan. 30. “Their parents are afraid.”
He said the board needed to use its position of power to, at the minimum, ask what more they can do — within the district’s legal framework — in addition to the resolution so that those families in fear feel heard by the district.
“Asking that question of the board ‘what more can we do,’ it will mean something to those listening in the audience, those listening at home,” Branning said.
After pulling it from the consent calendar, the board received several updates from deputy superintendent of educational services Ed Diolazo as to what schools are doing to protect Pleasanton’s immigrant families.
Diolazo said the resolution was definitely one way to reaffirm the district’s principles around “providing a safe learning environment for all students.”
“Not only is it in board policy, but it’s really about student safety and families feeling safe coming to school and really giving them their rights to a safe education,” he said.
However, he also said that PUSD director of student services Janet Gates has been specifically providing information to school sites regarding procedures and protocols for how to respond to certain situations, such as law enforcement showing up to campus.
“We want to reassure our parents and our families that we have a process,” Diolazo said. “We’re not going to get involved in the legal aspects of this but we just want to make sure that we have a safe campus and we provide procedures for our staff.”
Diolazo added that there are specific protocols for front office staff and site administrators to follow if immigration authorities show up to a campus.
Trustee Charlie Jones also asked if staff could look into providing informational cards — both in Spanish and in English — to students so they know what to do if they are approached by ICE because he said as a public educator who previously taught immigrant students, this issue means a lot to him.
“This is very personal for me,” Jones said. “No matter if you were here for five minutes or 50 years, you belong here and you are a part of this community, no matter your status … and by law and by just ethics, you deserve an education.”
Diolazo said they would look into providing students with those informational cards.
Before approving the resolution, Board Vice President Kelly Mokashi suggested that the board read the resolution in its entirety for the sake of community members tuning in virtually and to recognize the importance of the resolution.
“Immigration affects all of us in different ways … I think it’s really important that we recognize that we are providing that safe space for our students,” Mokashi said.
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