Dufur School adopts ICE policy

DUFUR — The school board of District 29 adopted a mandatory policy on contact with ICE at their Sept. 1 meeting.

The policy is now required by Oregon State law, and had to be in place before Sept. 30.

Vice-Chairman Tim Fain presented the new policy. It is the bare minimum the law requires, with none of the optional language, he said.

Newly appointed board member Rylee Lutter asked whether this policy allows the district to give information to ICE agents. Fain responded this policy seems to mirror the policy they have around interacting with local law enforcement: An ICE agent would need a warrant to make an arrest on campus, parents would need to be notified if ICE wanted to speak to a student, and new Superintendent Kurt Evans noted he is obliged to notify a list of persons who have requested such notification should ICE appear with requests.

The new policy passed unanimously on this first reading, although newly appointed board member Sean Skiles said, “I just don’t want to impede any law enforcement, whether it’s federal, state or local,” to general agreement.

The board also heard from two of 15 students who went to Iceland on a board-approved school trip, visiting museums, the president’s house (where they remarked on the absence of pomp and security), and were one of the last groups able to visit a glacier before it sheared off and was judged unsafe.

The board also reviewed data on student success on various regulation tests, adopted a new math curriculum on their committee’s strong recommendation (after postponing for two years, they had to adopt a curriculum this year).