A webinar hosted by the California Department of Education (CDE) on Feb. 4 highlighted how some districts are working with community partners and families to create a culture of safety and belonging for immigrant students and families. “Including Immigrant Students and Families: Cultivating Community Partnership and Parent” featured panelists from the Oakland Unified School District, Oxnard USD, Los Angeles USD and parent advocates from the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE).
“This is a critical time in our nation and in our state to affirm protections through policy and to reimagine our strategy and practice as communities of interest holders to uplift the dignity of all children and their families,” said Ingrid Roberson, CDE chief deputy superintendent of public instruction. “Here in California, we believe that schools should be safe, inclusive and supportive spaces for all families regardless of immigration status. For us, the cultural and linguistic variety brought to us in California from across the world is an invaluable asset that enhances our communities and our lives.”
Panelists shared their local educational agencies’ experiences with immigration enforcement, their preparation to ensure schools are as safe as they can be, and resources and steps that are in place if someone in the school community is affected by immigration enforcement. Panelists emphasized that trust between the schools/district and students and parents is the most important factor in communicating with families and helping them to feel safe at school. At the board level, that trust is strengthened through adoption of policies that protect this vulnerable community.
“Our school board recently updated our sanctuary policy to include LGBTQIA students, families and staff,” said Oakland USD Board President Valarie Bachelor. “That was due to all of the federal attacks on that community as well. But what that allowed us to do is it created an opportunity for us to reassure families that we do have a sanctuary policy and that you are safe at school. We were then also able to communicate to them what our safety plan is — and what was key is that we were able to communicate our ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] policies out in multiple languages.”
Rapid response networks
Both Oakland and Oxnard have rapid response networks, which typically provide a hotline to report federal immigration agents’ presence in an area, and dispatches trained legal observers to the raid location, among other functions.
In Oakland, the district has partnered with the employee union, the Oakland Education Association (OEA), that created its own rapid response network. “The raids in LA and other cities across the country have sent shockwaves throughout our community,” Bachelor said. “With each of those shockwaves, we have collectively stepped up our organizing and defense work. And by working together, we have strengthened our partnerships with community-based organizations, our community and the Oakland Education Association.”
Jessi Papaglia, who teaches newcomer students, founded and co-chairs OEA’s rapid response team, which is made up of more than 100 educators and parents in the district. She explained they are working in partnership with hundreds of volunteers across the city to create strong citywide systems of defense of immigrant students and their families.
“Effective district-community partnership on this important issue that is constantly changing requires intentionality in communication,” Papaglia said. “One of the things that we’ve been able to do in partnership with our team on the union side with the district is have shared spaces where a representative from our rapid response team is regularly meeting with district personnel responsible for implementation of the sanctuary policy. So, I just want to reiterate again, the importance of the sanctuary policy that was passed by our school board, and really that is the foundation for all the work that we’re able to do in partnership with the district.”
Ventura County, where Oxnard USD is located, is one of the areas in the state most impacted by immigration enforcement. “Since January 2025, Ventura County has been the epicenter of heightened ICE activity, with multiple surges in our region in May, June and August, with the most visible and traumatic moments happening on July 10, 2025, at Glass House, where over 361 farmworkers were taken in a single day,” explained Oxnard USD Board Vice President Genevieve Flores-Haro. “And while our school campuses themselves have not largely been the direct targets, the impact on our school communities is undeniable. When parents are detained, students carry that fear and that strain with them to the classroom.”
Like Oakland, Oxnard USD Board President Karen Sher emphasized the importance of working with community organizations and departments. Sher said Oxnard Mayor Luis McArthur has been instrumental in bringing community partners together, organizing a monthly meeting at a public library where participants can discuss the most current issues and decide how to address them.
Flores-Haro is also the associate director of the nonprofit Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project, which aims to support organize and empower Indigenous migrant communities in the Central Coast. The organization runs a rapid response network, and along with the 805 Rapid Response Network, mobilizes more than 800 volunteers, which include teachers and administrators.
“Any chance that I get, when folks are asking, ‘How do I get involved? How do I support?’ I tell them, sign up for a training, sign up to volunteer because that’s what this moment is asking of all of us — to be there and show up in any way you can. Whether it’s doing 5 a.m. patrols or just watching the crosswalks as students are being released. Simple things like that and mutual aid, food distribution — that’s what is supporting the movement we’re in.”
People can report suspicious activity through the response network’s secure Signal group chat, and responders confirm with school staff whether the presence of ICE is accurate. “We’re able to problem-solve in real time,” Flores-Haro continued. “Then we can confirm in real time if it’s ICE, and we can also dispel that it’s not ICE, and that’s just as important for the community as well, so that we’re able to not have bad information out there.”
This summary will be continued in part two, which will cover the efforts of Los Angeles USD, parent advocate perspectives and steps to take if someone from the school community, or their family, is taken by ICE.
