Letter: All School Personnel Must Be Trained How to Respond to an ICE Presence
Photo: Massachusetts Teachers Association
by It Takes a Village AmherstP-Pelham
The following letter was sent to Dr. E. Xiomara Herman, Superintendent of the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, the Amherst Regional School Committee, and the Amherst Town Council on February 13, 2026. Members of the Amherst Regional community who wish to add their names to those of the 117 who had signed the letter by 9 p.m EST on Feb. 13 can do so here.
As Amherst/Pelham community members, teachers, and parents, we are deeply disturbed by ICE events unfolding across our state. Statistics confirm that over 5,000 people have been detained by ICE in Massachusetts alone, including school-age students, parents of young children, and fathers or mothers who are the sole financial providers for a family. We are aware of families in our own communities that have been torn apart with a parent sent to detention centers in distant states with the possibility of deportation to unsafe locations. We cannot stand idly by as neighbors are targeted for detention and deportation in their homes, on their way to work, on their jobs, at their schools, and at their houses of worship. Family separation is a real fear and cause for emotional trauma that deeply impacts the well-being of our students. We feel extreme concern about numerous acts of intimidation and violent detention tactics, dangerous and unhealthy holding facilities, lack of appropriate warrants or due process, and wrongful apprehension of US citizens or individuals with proper visas based on appearance or language.
Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools’ current protocol for ICE intervention was written in 2017 when ICE officers were following understood legalities and schools were identified as sensitive locations.
We strongly feel that Amherst and adjacent communities need to be prepared in the event ICE activity ramps up in our towns. We are looking to our superintendent to lead with love and concern, and to the School Committee and the Amherst Town Council to collaborate with us in planning to protect our students and families. We do not see that there are updated guidelines and training in place for school staff, teachers, and bus drivers in the event ICE presence at our schools increases and parents of our students are detained and families are separated. Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools’ current protocol for ICE intervention was written in 2017 when ICE officers were following understood legalities and schools were identified as sensitive locations. At that time that was a good, clear, and workable protocol.
Unfortunately, the situation has changed, and what were once considered sensitive locations, such as schools, are no longer safe from ICE entry. ICE agents no longer present judicial warrants signed by a judge designating the person they wish to obtain. They have no problem forcing their way into buildings or buses or detaining parents who are dropping off or picking up their children at the school, and ICE may use a child to bait a parent as well. All this is frightening and potentially traumatizing, especially if teachers, bus drivers, and other school staff have not been trained how to respond to the presence of ICE. Proper training is intended to protect staff, parents, and students from being harmed in a situation that is at risk for violent escalation. Up-to-date training for staff decreases the risk of potential lawsuits and harm.
We, the undersigned, are convinced that it is absolutely necessary for all school personnel to be trained how to respond to an ICE presence, to be taught what to do and what not to do, including bus drivers as ICE could force their way onto a bus or wait at a bus stop. Informed and up to date training is available in our area from the ACLUM through the Northampton office and the Pioneer Valley Workers Center’s staff at no cost. We urge you to please get all teachers, other school staff, and bus drivers trained as soon as possible. ICE can be here tomorrow. There is no time to wait.
We also request the district develop family preparedness plans. Under Dr. Guevara’s leadership, the Family Center has the expertise to develop such plans and the knowledge of how best to communicate with families to complete them. Although other districts have originated such documentations and protocols, Dr. Guevara has an understanding of what our district families, in particular, could need in addition. The preparedness plans would assist our school personnel to best support our students in the event that their families are impacted by ICE, helping them to continue their education and address the trauma they experience.
Neighborhoods, concerned citizens and community organizations are already beginning to strategize and plan. We need the school administration, the School Committee, and Town Council to all come together to collaborate and support an ICE safety protocol and clear structure for addressing student, family and staff needs.
Members of the Amherst Regional community who wish to add their names to those of the 117 individuals who had signed the letter as of 9 p.m EST on Feb. 13 can do so here.
It Takes a Village Amherst-Pelham
It Takes a Village Amherst-Pelham is a group of people who have been involved in past and current mutual aid work in the area, retired and current teachers, families with children in the school system, and community members who are very concerned about the safety of the students, school staff, and families, now that federal agents’ activity in the area is increasing. It Takes a Village Amherst-Pelham can be reached c/o The Amherst Indy.