Review DPS Immigration-related Resources and Protocols |
Dear School Leaders,
These are difficult and uncertain times to navigate school communities through. Your leadership is especially important and needed as we work collectively to protect our students. With recent tragic events taking place in Minnesota over the last few weeks, we are re-sharing important immigration related information such as the DPS protocol, resources and important processes to ensure we are supporting one another and feeling collectively prepared. |
Re-visit Front Office Protocol |
Please prioritize re-visiting the Front Office Protocol one-pager with your staff at your next team meeting to ensure all team members know what to do if immigration-related issues arise. As a reminder, the Legal Emergency Response hotline (720-545-7122) is a DPS hotline you should call if: there are reports of ICE in the immediate vicinity of your school, if a government official is present at your school, or there is an emergency matter related to immigration. This ensures that the line is available for its intended purpose. Please do not share this phone number with non-DPS individuals.
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In the event that ICE is rumored to be in surrounding areas, it is natural to want to inform your school community as soon as possible. Before sending any communications to your community regarding immigration, please connect with your OSD first to confirm if a message is necessary at that time. This is to avoid spreading further panic and fear among the community. Members of the communication team are available to support once your OSD confirms that a message is needed. |
Guidance for Supporting Families Impacted by Detainment |
The Family and Community Engagement (FACE) team has created this guidance for schools supporting families who have been impacted by a family member detained by ICE. This guidance outlines steps that schools can take to support students and families using a coordinated approach. If you need additional support, please reach out to the FACE Family Connect Program team.
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Hosting Meetings with Community Partners |
When inviting community partners and organizations to your building to host events such as Know Your Rights training, please keep your staff’s involvement limited if the community organization is facilitating the event. If the community organization is hosting the event, it is important that your role is simply to provide the space. If you have questions about community meetings or are planning on providing space for a community organization, please notify your OSD. |
Under DPS Administrative Policy JRA/JRC-R, DPS does not collect the immigration status of our students or their families. Keep this in mind when tracking attendance and do not ask about or record immigration details in attendance notes.
The definition of an excused absence is when both the parent/guardian and the principal/designee feel it should be excused. When marking absences, use the following codes: |
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OTX for other excused absences. For example, this is a family with a valid concern and not a family trying to leverage recent events.
- OTU if not excused. For example, this is a family that does not appear to have a valid concern and is trying to leverage recent events to excuse their child's absence(s).
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When in doubt, err on the side of excusing the absence. |
Printable Rights Cards (also referred to as Red Cards) are available in multiple languages in this folder. If you would like to request printed cards for your school, please complete this form.
We will continue to keep you and our larger DPS community informed as resources and information are available. Please reach out to myself or your OSD if you need support. Sincerely, Cesar Cedillo
Executive Director, Continuity Operations Plan |
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