CWCS Board Approved July 19, 2018

Policy

It is the policy of Connecting Waters Charter School ("CWCS") to provide all students with equal rights and opportunities to an education, regardless of specified characteristics, including on the basis of immigration status. A student or family's immigration status will not be used at CWCS as a basis to deny students access or opportunity to an equal education.

CWCS adheres to all state and federal laws for student protection, including Assembly Bill 699. On that basis, CWCS proposes the following student procedures:

Procedure

Collection of Private Information:

CWCS will not collect or request information or documents regarding the citizenship or immigration status of students or their family members unless required by law, such as for student work permits or the federal school lunch program.

Detained and Deported Parents:

CWCS will not contact Child Protective Services ("CPS") to assist students whose parents have been detained on immigration charges or deported until it has exhausted all other avenues to ensure their care. CWCS will pursue all contacts on the child's emergency card or any other instructions provided by a parent or guardian prior to contacting CPS. The intent of this provision is to avoid the unnecessary placement of children in foster care.

Student and Family Support:

CWCS will provide "Know Your Rights" information to parents. For example, students have the right to a free public education regardless of immigration status, and CWCS will advise parents of this right. This information and notification will be provided in the School's annual notices to parents, or by other cost-effective means.

Bullying and Harassment Education:

According to a Legislative analysis, there have been hundreds of reported incidents of bullying, harassment and intimidation across the country based on student immigration status. To combat this, CWCS will educate students about the negative impacts of bullying based on a student's actual or perceived immigration status or their religious beliefs or customs. The School will continue to enforce its policies prohibiting discrimination and will also review its procedures for reporting and addressing such incidents, to make sure every effort is made to protect potentially affected students.

Safe Haven Policies:

CWCS will create policies that address immigration agents' requests to access school sites or for information about students or their family members. It will implement these policies and post a notice of such policies on the School's website.

Further, the Executive Director will timely report to the Board of Directors any law enforcement request for student information or for school site access for immigration enforcement.