Sturgis Charter Public School’s Access to Education, Student Privacy, and Immigration Enforcement Policy

The Executive Director shall not permit third party access to the school’s premises that would cause disruption to the learning environment.  Therefore, administrators and all employees of Sturgis Public Charter School must not allow any third party access to the school’s premises without permission of the Executive Director or as authorized by law.¹

In light of the above, the Board of Trustees has found and resolved that access to the school’s premises or school-related activities by immigration law enforcement agents substantially disrupts the learning environment and any such request for access should be referred to the Executive Director immediately.

School personnel must contact the Executive Director immediately if approached by immigration law enforcement agents. Personnel must also attempt to contact the parents or guardians of any students involved.

The Executive Director must process requests by immigration law enforcement agents to enter a school site or obtain student data as follows:

What To Do If ICE Shows Up At Your School:

1. Stay calm, be polite, and ask the ICE Agent to wait or return later.
2. Alert the Executive Director. The Executive Director should alert the student’s guardians.
3. Executive Director or Principals should immediately call your attorney.
   1. If they do not answer, call our main office line at (617) 542-6789 and ask to speak to an attorney in the Education Group.
4. If the ICE Agents have not shown you a warrant, ask to see it.
   1. There are two types of warrants ICE Agents may have: Judicial and Administrative. Your attorney will help identify what type of warrant the ICE Agents have.
   2. Scan the warrant and send it to your attorney.
5. If your attorney determines that the ICE Agents have a Judicial Warrant, they may enter your school and you must comply with the warrant.
   1. 1. Based on the Judicial Warrant, your attorney will identify the scope of the search or arrest authority the agents have.
6. If the ICE Agents present an Administrative Warrant, they cannot enter your school without explicit permission, and you may ask them to leave.

1. 1. 1. This includes school grounds, places where educational activities or events are taking place, and school bus stops during the times of day when students are present.
      2. If the ICE Agents have an Administrative Warrant and are accompanied by local law enforcement officers, the local law enforcement officers cannot execute the Administrative Warrant.
      3. DO NOT let an ICE Agent question or remove a student from school without a Judicial Warrant
      4. DO NOT present the student to an ICE Agent without a Judicial Warrant.

REMEMBER: You cannot disclose student information to Immigration Agents without the student’s parent/guardian’s consent (or the student’s if 18+) unless presented with a lawful court order and/or subpoena. Your attorney will be able to identify whether you have been presented with a valid court order and/or subpoena and assist in this process.

---

1 Third parties who receive personally identifiable information from a student record are prohibited from releasing the information without the consent of the parent or the eligible student. 603 CMR 23.07(4)

2 The Difference Between Judicial and Administrative Warrants

3 The Massachusetts Attorney General published guidance in Jan 2025 reviewing key laws and policies, and, specifically, policies around student data protection.

4 603 CMR 23.07(4)