Durham Public Schools Board met on September 25, 2025, to address urgent concerns about student safety amid immigration enforcement threats, chart a new course for an empty school building, and wrestle with how to pay and support its 5,000-plus employees.
The most pressing issue came from families and school staff who warned that immigrant students are terrified of ICE deportations, with some children dropping out of school entirely. Megan McCurly with School Parents for Immigrant Defense, teachers Ellen Holmes and Fernando Compos, student Luna Gomez, and parents reading anonymous letters in Spanish described students "terrified of separating from their parents at drop off" and teachers who feel "unprepared" on ICE response protocols. One school nurse reported students in "a state of abandonment" due to official silence from schools. Families demanded the board pass updated policies protecting student constitutional rights immediately, not gradually, and requested a "private zones administrative policy and protocol." The Policy Committee heard this demand and moved to prioritize the district's relationship with law enforcement policy, aiming to present it October 7 after consulting with teachers so feedback from an October 16 meet-and-confer can be incorporated before an October 21 final vote.
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