In March, Jennifer Gaffney, the superintendent of the Sackets Harbor Central school district in upstate New York, found herself advocating for the release of a district family, including young students, from immigration detention.
Immigration officers detained the family at a local farm, according to media reports. After days of working with local, state, and federal representatives, as well as organizations including the New York Immigration Coalition and the state Office for New Americans, Gaffney celebrated the family’s release back into the Sackets Harbor community in early April.
The situation emerged at a time when changes to immigration policy are causing more school and district leaders to increase support for immigrant students and families. In January, President Donald Trump’s administration rescinded a policy making schools “protected areas” from immigration enforcement.
Gaffney spoke with Education Week about why she worked to help release the local family from immigration detention and the role school and district leaders play in the intersection of immigration and education. She declined to go into detail on the family to allow them to recover from their ordeal. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What compelled you, personally and professionally, to speak out in this case?
We have a district goal. We want to create a safe and supportive school district by promoting and ensuring a positive learning environment in which everyone feels welcomed, secure, respected, and has a sense of belonging. That’s our district value. That’s my own professional value, and it’s my personal value as well. ... That’s really what compelled me to advocate for the family.
What do you see as a superintendent’s responsibility in protecting and supporting immigrant families in their district?
District leaders ... set the tone and advocate for all students, and they need to incorporate and prioritize policies, procedures, and initiatives that prioritize inclusivity. It’s the manner in which they interact with students and their families, the manner in which they advocate on behalf of them as well.
I believe that most superintendents have always been great advocates for students in their districts. They’re used to advocating for more funding, or they’re used to advocating for certain pieces of legislation, but now we find ourselves in a position where we have to get more involved in advocacy at the public policy level, because the changes at the federal level have really impacted some of our vulnerable populations in a very negative way.
Do you think school leaders are prepared—or supported enough—to respond when families face immigration enforcement?
There’s no professional development that you can receive that gives you a how-to guide on how to navigate highly sensitive, politicized issues such as immigration.
What really drove my team and me during our situation was an absolute focus on what was doing what was right for kids. If you ignore all the noise, and focus on what is best for kids, what is best for kids is being in school. What is best for kids is having a sense of safety and belonging.
And we had a family for a period of time that didn’t have that, and it’s our job, we felt, as educators to advocate on their behalf so that they could, once again return to their home, return to their school, return to their classroom, and be supported by their school community.
What role do you believe schools should play in the broader conversation about immigration and family separation?
I believe that school leaders should be staunch advocates for ensuring that our schools remain protected areas. I believe we really need to be working with our state and federal legislators to once again ensure that our schools and our hospitals, and certain other areas, remain protected areas for our immigrants, so that there can be some semblance of normalcy and safety for those populations.
What concrete steps can other superintendents take to make immigrant families feel safe and welcome in their schools?
You do for your immigrant families what you would do for any other family in the district. You bring them into the fold; you provide them with a high-quality education. You provide them with the support that they need to be successful learners and contribute to their school communities in positive ways. I’m still a strong believer that you need quality diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in schools that include all school stakeholder groups to advance those goals, to develop the cultural competence of your communities.
We advocated strongly for this family that was experiencing a tremendous challenge. But we would advocate for any of our students and our families if they were experiencing a similar challenge.
What would you say to those who don’t think superintendents should wade into politicized topics such as immigration?
Advocating for students is not political. Doing what is right for kids is not political. If you want to stand on the outside and look in and deem it political, that’s on you. But from the inside out, from what we are doing as educators and what my team did here, from my teachers, my principal, and my community at large, we did what we had to do because we care about kids.
As long as district and building leaders and teachers, and school staff start with the student in mind … the political noise hopefully will quiet.
What do you hope the long-term impact of your advocacy will be, both for your district and beyond?
I’m hoping that all of my students in the district witnessed what happened, and realized that their teachers and their administrators, and their community truly care about all of the kids in this district. It’s important to recognize that the students experienced that along with us.
We were very open in our communication with our students, and our parents, and guardians in the community throughout the entire situation. I want them to recognize that we truly care, and this is one example of how you can show you care, and that should hopefully give not only our immigrant students, but all students that sense of belonging and connectedness.
I certainly hope that we serve as an example to districts across our state and nation in relation to advocating for doing what is right on behalf of children.
