Schools in Los Angeles are moving into graduation season and summer break just as immigration raids targeting workplaces across the city have sparked clashes between protesters and law enforcement, as well as President Donald Trump’s activation of National Guard troops and Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials.
In the middle of it all, the Los Angeles Unified School District—the nation’s second-largest district—has finished out its school year while attempting to reassure families and stand up to what Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has called “preposterous actions.”
Carvalho on Monday announced the district’s police force would set up “perimeters of safety” around high school graduations to deter the presence of federal immigration officers from ceremonies that he said some family members have been afraid to attend.
Immigration agents in this round of raids have targeted workplaces and not schools, though one series of arrests of day laborers at a local Home Depot took place next to a high school while an elementary school graduation took place inside, EdSource reported.
During the school year, schools can naturally support students on site—whether with counseling, meals, or connections—amid fear among immigrant students and their family members that they could be apprehended by immigration agents. But with students heading into summer break, many families are left wondering: Where can they turn if fear and uncertainty grow in their communities?
Schools can create connections with immigrant families, even in the summer
Experts say summer is a key time for school districts to build trust with immigrant families, even when students aren’t in classrooms.
Schools should send a clear message over the summer and next school year that they are trusted, welcoming spaces for immigrant communities, Alejandra Vázquez Baur, a fellow at the Century Foundation and co-founder of the National Newcomer Network, a coalition of educators and immigrant advocates, recently told EdWeek.
Schools can project the message that they’re a safe place through academic summer programming, resource fairs, summer meal services, and more.
That work throughout the summer lays the groundwork for a successful fall semester because families will be more comfortable sending their kids to school knowing district leadership is supportive.
“This is not a time to take a break from open communication with your families,” Vázquez Baur said. “Bolster that communication, share updates as there are changes in policies or threats to the community. Maintain that open and honest communication because families need it in order to feel safe to return in the fall.”
Partnering with local organizations, district resource fairs can serve as hubs where families can access necessities like clothing, as well as legal resources and health screenings.
Summer is also a great time to provide programming that supports students’ language and literacy learning, as well as GED programs for students ages 18-20 and their families, district leaders have said.
In addition, the summer break is a time when districts can strengthen partnerships with immigrant-serving organizations that already have deep trust in local communities, said Vázquez Baur.
District leaders can ask these community partners about the questions and concerns they are hearing from families—and work to address them in the following school year.
LAUSD will open more summer school sites, increase transportation options
In LAUSD, summer school starts June 17 and runs through mid-July, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Carvalho said more campuses than usual would be opened for classes to minimize travel time from homes to school, with the idea that minimizing travel time could reduce the risk of apprehension by immigration agents, and more school-funded transportation would be provided, the Times reported. Additional virtual class options might also be offered, Carvalho said.
“We stand strongly on the right side of law,” Carvalho said during a press conference on Monday. “Every student in our community, every student across the country, has a constitutional right to a free public education of high quality, without threat. Every one of our students, independently of their immigration status, has a right to a free meal in our schools. Every one of our children, no questions asked, has a right to counseling, social emotional support, mental support.”
In an essay published Tuesday in Time magazine, Carvalho reflected on how his upbringing as an undocumented Portuguese immigrant informs his work as the leader of the nation’s second-largest school district. Like many immigrant students and their family members he, too, once “lived with the uncertainty of whether a knock at the door meant separation from everything I loved.”
“Schools are the heart of a community. For many children, it is the only place where they feel truly safe, truly seen. When federal actions create chaos outside our school gates, it is our responsibility to speak out and protect the sanctity of what happens inside them,” Carvalho wrote.
He continued: “As superintendent, my charge is clear: I will do everything in my power to make sure every child—documented or not—feels safe, supported, and seen in our schools. Because the future of this country sits in our classrooms every day. And how we treat them will define who we are and what happens next in our nation.”
