4300%20Limiting%20Immigration%20Enforcement%20-%20WSSDA%20P%26L%20News%20Aug.%202020.pdf

Parent document: REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 5_30 PM-02-12-2025.pdf

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n 2019, our Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB)
5497 -Establishing a Statewide Policy Supporting
Washington’s Economy and Immigrants’ Role in the
Workplace, also known as the Keep Washington

Working Act.

SB 5497 required Washington’s Office of Attorney General
(AGO) to develop guidance for limiting immigration enforce-
ment to the fullest extent possible and permissible at
courthouses, publicly operated health facilities, shelters,
and of particular note, public schools. Washington’s public
schools are recognized as special institutions—and with
good reason. Public schools have a legal and moral obliga-
tion to ensure that no one is denied the opportunity to
succeed because of where they were born.

The legislation also took the unusual step of requiring the
AGO to develop model policies for those same entities,
including public schools. This past May, the AGO finalized its
model policy limiting immigration enforcement and issued
Guidance, Model Policies, and Best Practices for Public
Schools, which as the name suggests, includes guidance as
well as a model policy for public schools. SB 5497 requires
public schools to take one of two steps. The first option is to
adopt changes to existing policies to make them consistent
with the model developed by the AGO. The second option is
to notify the AGO that no changes in policy will be adopted
while giving the AGO the reasons for not adopting changes
plus a copy of the district’s policies.

As you might be aware, there are existing WSSDA model
policies that have similar provisions to those in the AGO’s

AUGUST 2020

'Y POLICE se
_ ICE

Model Policy and
Procedure

Limiting Immigration
Enforcement

new model, such as not allowing immigration enforcement
immediate access, checking for a valid warrant, and contact-
ing the superintendent if immigration enforcement arrives
at school. These pre-existing model policies include Model
Policy/Procedure 3226-Interview and Interrogations of
Students on School Premises; Model Policy 4310- District
Relationships with Law Enforcement and Other Government
Agencies; and Model Policy 4311-School Resource Officer.

However, after carefully reviewing the AGO’s model policy,
we found a number of instances in which the AGO model
policy and procedure provide more detailed and proscrip-
tive information about the boundaries separating public
schools and immigration enforcement. For example, the
AGO’s model included additional information about legal
obligations not to cooperate with immigration enforcement
officials and more directly express the district’s affirmative
obligation to alert students and families about their rights.

Given these important differences, WSSDA is issuing new
Model Policy and Procedure 4300-Limiting Immigration
Enforcement, which exactly reproduces the AGO model in
its entirety. Importantly, there is no conflict between this
new policy and the pre-existing WSSDA model policies
listed above. This means that there is no need to retire or
revise any of these existing policies your board may have
already adopted. Instead, by adding Model Policy 4300
to your policy manual, you will better protect the rights of
your students and community and ensure your district fully
complies with the law.