101

 At the end of our one hundredth day of school for this year, our staff assembled to briefly bathe in the glow of the celebration we had shared with our students.

Then we got back to work. 

At stake was the potential of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descending on our school. Oakland has been a sanctuary city since 1986, and like many Bay Area cities, that ordinance has been reaffirmed in the past month as mass deportations have become the "law" of the land. Offering this sanctuary to the kids and their families becomes a new part of our job, and the expectation is that we teachers, administration and staff would act accordingly. 

What does that mean? Cooperating with federal agents in the slimmest way possible. Not to physically impede them, but to document any and all intrusions onto our campus past the front office. Once they make it that far, they are not allowed to go any further. If they present a warrant, we will call our legal department and have them make their way down to our site to give it a look-see. Meanwhile they will have to cool their heels much in the same way that a recalcitrant student might, sitting in the office chairs waiting for the powers that be to decide the next steps. 

The easiest thing would be to call their parents and let them know how disappointed we are in their behavior. 

The hardest thing was to explain to our Latino students why we gave them these little red strips of paper. They are printed in English and Spanish, letting their parents know their rights and what to do if they are stopped or accosted by ICE. Yet another way in which our kids are forced to deal with things that are not in a scale which they should be asked to cope. Pandemics, wildfires, terrorism, and now the fear of being separated from their parents by people with guns. 

Sadly, for many of our kids, this would not be the first time that last one has been raised. And if we have anything to do or say about it, this will also be the last. 

The work continues.