Amid the swell of detentions by federal immigration officers in neighborhoods across the city, Chicago Board of Education members are calling for greater support for students and families living in fear and vulnerable to recent enforcement sweeps.
Parents are afraid to send their children to school while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers lurk nearby. Students are sharing live updates on ICE agent locations. And whistles blow, alerting neighbors to federal activity. Those daily occurrences prompted school board members at their monthly meeting Thursday to urge CPS to take more action, including implementing remote learning options for students unable to attend school due to immigration enforcement fears.
The call comes as educators, school leadership, board members, parents and students grapple with the immigration crackdown under the administration of President Donald Trump — known widely as Operation Midway Blitz — which has resulted in hundreds of detentions throughout the city since its launch in early September.
A street vendor was detained outside of Decatur Classical School near the Rogers Park neighborhood earlier this week, according to a letter from school leadership shared with the Tribune.
The district cannot unilaterally implement remote learning, CPS interim CEO Macquline King said during the meeting. That decision would have to come from the governor’s office, which has the authority to do so in what King described as “emergency” situations. King has maintained that schools are the safest place for students to be.
Several board members said they have been in contact with frightened community members and have responded to ICE threats in their neighborhoods, showing up at schools during drop-off and pickup to help ensure safety.
While acknowledging that there are obstacles to implementing remote learning, board member Karen Zaccor, District 4A, maintained that the option should be considered for students and parents who are unable to attend school because of immigration enforcement fears. “We need their learning to continue,” she said.
The district has taken multiple protective measures for families and students since the start of the crackdown, including advocating for Safe Passage workers to ensure the safety of students who walk to and from school.
It also recently expanded its 24-hour Student Safety Center, adding a dedicated team to triage incidents related to federal law enforcement. Additionally, schools were told to establish ICE protocols and hold staff trainings earlier this month.
Still, some board members say more is needed and insist the current ICE actions warrant emergency action to ensure the safety of students and their families.
“Safe passage does not exist right now, today in Pilsen or Little Village. They’re all over the street,” said board member Emma Lozano, District 7A, adding that she had heard of people being detained Thursday morning. “Our parents are asking for remote learning, if possible. This is an emergency, period. This is an emergency right now,” Lozano said. CPS children are scared they will come home and find their parents gone, Lozano added, heightening the need for action immediately.
The call for remote learning extends beyond Chicago’s neighborhoods and has been echoed in communities outside of the city, including Lake County’s Waukegan and North Chicago.
The school board’s honorary student member Destiny Singleton sees firsthand the worries of her peers every day. “We feel the weight of ICE in our city and in our country,” the senior at Ogden International School of Chicago said at the meeting.
“Students have been posting minute-by-minute updates on ICE agent locations in hopes to protect our fellow students,” Singleton said. “I feel like we shouldn’t do this because we’re children, and we shouldn’t need to protect ourselves in this way, and we are terrified.”
Furthermore, Chicago Teachers Union members pointed out the framework for remote learning could already exist through the district’s Virtual Academy, although President Stacy Davis Gates said at a September news conference CPS was not ready to implement virtual learning.
The fully remote schooling option is designed for K-12 students from CPS-run schools who have a medical condition that makes virtual learning a better format for them, according to the district’s website.
Virtual Academy is the way to ensure students can still attend school when they or their family members feel it’s dangerous to leave their homes, Vicki Kurzydlo, CTU recording secretary, said during public comments at the meeting.
“When a child stays home because their route to school feels unsafe, that’s not an attendance problem, everybody, that’s a failure of protection.” Kurzydlo said. “I’m hearing from educators whose classrooms are half empty because families are scared.”
King emphasized that the district is ready to respond, but asked the board to recommend necessary policy changes and “blind spots” as the immigration enforcement blitz continues.
“This team is working day and night. Our phone calls end at 10 p.m. because not only do we carry the weight of the federal actions, we’re still dealing with gun violence, we’re still dealing with the custodians and we’re still focused on teaching that leads to learning,” King said, speaking to board members. “We need you.”