Amendment #14 to H5305

Additional Legal Protections in School Settings

Mr. Reid of Lynn moves to amend the bill by adding the following sections:

Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 102. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: -

“Charter school”, commonwealth charter schools and Horace Mann charter schools established pursuant to section 89.

“Collaborative school”, a school operated by an educational collaborative established pursuant to section 4E of chapter 40.

“Department”, the department of elementary and secondary education.

“School”, a school administered by a school department of a city or town or regional school district, a county agricultural school, an independent vocational school or a vocational school operated by a county, a commonwealth charter school or Horace Mann charter school established pursuant to section 89, or an educational collaborative established pursuant to section 4E of chapter 40.

“Grounds”, any building or property owned or controlled by a school within the same reasonably proximate geographic area of the school and other non-public areas used by the school in direct support of or in a manner related to the school’s educational or athletic purposes.

“School district”, the school department of a city or town, a regional school district, an independent vocational school, or a vocational school or agricultural school operated by a county.

Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 102(b) Except as required by state or federal law, arrests for civil immigration enforcement shall not be permitted on school grounds without a valid judicial warrant or judicial order. In accordance with the foregoing, school officials and employees shall not allow a law enforcement agent engaged in civil immigration enforcement to enter a school’s grounds without: (i) a valid judicial warrant or judicial order and (ii) receiving prior approval from the superintendent of the school district or their designee, the executive director of the charter school or their designee or the executive director of the collaborative school or their designee, as applicable. A law enforcement agent permitted to enter a school’s grounds in accordance with this section shall, except as required by the judicial warrant or judicial order, be limited to areas where students are not present."

Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

"Section 102(c) Each school district, charter school, and collaborative school shall adopt and implement a policy regarding interactions with law enforcement agents involved in civil immigration enforcement which shall include, at a minimum, but not be limited to: (i) the designation of a contact person or persons to be notified of the presence of, or information requests from, law enforcement agents engaged in civil immigration enforcement; (ii) procedures to verify the identity and authority of any law enforcement agent engaged in civil immigration enforcement at the school; (iii) procedures to verify the validity of any judicial warrant or judicial order provided to the school; (iv) procedures to obtain approval from the superintendent of the school district or their designee, the executive director of the charter school or their designee, or the executive director of the collaborative school or their designee, as applicable, prior to allowing a law enforcement agent engaged in civil immigration enforcement to enter a school’s grounds; (v) procedures for documenting all interactions with law enforcement agents engaged in civil immigration enforcement and (vi) procedures for informing school officials and employees on how to respond safely to requests relating to civil immigration enforcement.

(d) The department, in consultation with the attorney general, shall prepare and publish on its website a model policy consistent with the requirements of this section. The department, in consultation with the attorney general, shall also prepare and publish a model training for informing school officials and employees on how to safely respond to requests relating to civil immigration enforcement.

(e) The requirements of subsection (b) shall apply regardless of whether a school district, charter school, or collaborative school has adopted the policy required by subsection (b).

Section 102 (c) of Chapter 71 is hereby amended by adding the following: --

(vii) procedures for notifying parents and guardians and school  employees when an individual is present on school grounds to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into the United States subject to the following conditions: the content and timing of such notification shall consider the safety and well-being of all such students and school employees;  no such notification shall contain any personally identifiable information; and any such notification may include links to additional resources for the parents of enrolled students with information about their educational rights and state and federal laws that protect parents' and students' privacy and confidentiality.

Section 34D of Chapter 71 is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-

The board of education shall also adopt regulations no later than September 1, 2026 to  prohibit school districts, charter schools, and educational collaboratives  from maintaining information or documentation in a student’s record that indicates a student’s immigration status or could place a student at risk of  investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into the United States, including but not limited to a student’s birth certificate.

Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 102 (f) An individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may apply for a writ of habeas corpus if such person has reasonable cause to believe that a civil arrest in violation of this section has occurred.

Section 1 of Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following paragraph :-

The board of education shall issue emergency regulations no later than September 1, 2026 in order to address the educational needs of students absent from school during the period of time when a municipality has declared a local state of emergency that adversely affects the ability of all students or a  subset of students to safely attend school due to a surge in law enforcement or federal immigration enforcement presence in a manner creating fear, escalating tension, jeopardizing safety or violating residents’ constitutional rights; provided that said emergency regulations shall provide that upon said declaration the municipality can utilize a remote or hybrid learning model to educate students; provided further that upon said declaration student attendance shall not be utilized as an indicator of school or district quality pursuant to MGL Ch.69 sec 1J and sec 1K and provider further than absences during the period of local state emergency may be considered excused absences.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #14, as changed to H5305

Additional Legal Protections in School Settings