Coronado public school trustees revised its guidelines to ban district staff from sharing citizenship- or immigration-related information with federal enforcement agents.
District staff will not allow immigration enforcement inside a school bus nor other school grounds.
At the same time, however, the district’s new policy – adopted at a school board meeting on Feb. 19 – retains a prohibition against district employees interfering with “an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement” on school grounds or vehicles if presented with a valid judicial subpoena, warrant or court order.
The district’s updated policy was mandated by a California law (AB 495) that requires all public school districts to approve new immigration-related guidelines by March 1.
The law specifies model policies to limit assistance with immigration enforcement at public schools. The California Attorney General says policy content must include procedures for requests by immigration officials to access school grounds, personal information and proper notification.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents targeted a San Diego school in Linda Vista last year. Coronado residents, joined by local students before school, have been meeting at the corners of Third Street and Orange Avenue to protest the Trump administration demanding an end to ICE since October.
The decision by CUSD’s board was unanimous, with trustees Alexia Palacios-Peters and Fitzhugh Lee absent, and did not prompt controversy during the meeting in February.
According to Maria Simon, the district’s public information officer, ICE has not conducted enforcement operations at Coronado schools.
Board President Renee Cavanaugh explained the district did not receive information about updating board policies until after the board’s meeting in January.
“This is something that is mandated by the state that we must pass,” said Cavanaugh.
Changes in CUSD
In early 2025, a Department of Homeland Security directive under President Trump rescinded Biden administration guidelines that limited immigration enforcement in so-called “sensitive areas,” such as schools and hospitals.
Around this time last year, the district issued a memo setting immigration protocols for Coronado public schools. In May, the board approved its policies including a response to immigration enforcement. Now, those policies have been replaced as of Feb. 19.
According to a district document, the old policy was “too narrowly focused on students” considering that a new law, AB 495 signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, requires policies in response to immigration enforcement to encompass protections for staff.
Coronado’s new policy and regulation says district staff, unless presented with a valid judicial subpoena, judicial warrant or court order, will not seek or disclose information or documents of anyone enrolled or employed in the district. It also says the district will train staff on interactions with an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement.
According to the policy, district staff need to notify the superintendent or designee quickly of any immigration enforcement requests.
Should immigration enforcement officers proceed to premises under district jurisdiction, the policy says the superintendent or designee will inform the board of immigration enforcement requests for education records of any household, personnel records or any other confidential employee information, or permission to enter any district-sponsored program or activity.
The policy calls for confidentiality and privacy of any potentially identifying information in district communications.
The superintendent or designee must also notify the Bureau of Children’s Justice in the California Department of Justice of any attempt by a law enforcement officer to access a student or a school site for immigration enforcement purposes, the policy says, in addition to legal counsel, parents and guardians.
The policy additionally details actions by district in the event that a student’s parent or guardian is detained or deported.
State mandate
According to the California School Boards Association, the legislators amended the state Education Code to strengthen protections for students, their families and staff by March 1.
Public schools in the state serve nearly six million children, almost half of whom have at least one immigrant parent. And, according to the Attorney General’s Office, approximately 133,000 undocumented children attend California’s public K-12 schools.
“The state and its educators must do everything within their control to make all California schools safe havens for California’s students and families,” says the guide.
James Canning, the executive director of strategic communications and information for San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), said the district had its first ICE incident in the opening week of the 2025-26 school year. In response, Canning said, SDUSD revisited training with staff and issued an information package for families and students.
In a press conference, SDUSD Superintendent Dr. Fabi Bagula stressed the district’s position: “To our families and to every child, documented or not, every child has the legal right to attend public school in the United States. We will protect that right and we will do so together.”
Canning said the San Diego district’s board will be voting on the revision and updating policies on Feb. 24.
In other matters:
- The governing board approved the district’s initial proposal for negotiations to the Association of Coronado Teachers (ACT) after a public hearing.
- The board voted to nominate Eddie Jones (Fallbrook Union HSD), Melissa Krogh (Warner USD), Gee Wah Mok (Del Mar USD), Dawn Perfect (Ramona USD), Rhea Stewart (Cardiff SD) and Marti Emerald (Sweetwater Union HSD) as representatives to the California School Boards Association’s Delegate Assembly for 2026.
- Coronado High School students requested the board to allow cell phones on campus after the board pulled a cell phone policy report scheduled for Feb. 19 and moved it to its board meeting in March.
The next regular board meeting is set for 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 12 at the district office.
