Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Association of School Committees
April 11, 2025
Re: Adoption of Safe Zone resolutions and policies
Dear state and local education leaders,
As you are aware, Massachusetts communities face a significant challenge in protecting the interests and rights of our residents while ensuring that K-12 students are able to maintain unfettered access to a high-quality public education.
As leaders of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, we are gravely concerned that aggressive federal enforcement of immigration laws is having the effect of frightening parents and prompting students to avoid school.
This is incredibly damaging.
Regardless of immigration status, all school-age children in the United States are entitled to a free public education. It is essential to the economic and social stability of our state and nation that all students receive a high-quality public education, as is their right.
For these reasons and many others, we ask you to encourage all school districts throughout the state to adopt a Safe Zone resolution and policy that will protect the learning environment of our schools, while ensuring safe access to schools at locations including along bus routes and in and around school properties.
The Safe Zone resolution, as developed by the National Education Association, adheres closely to the language of the U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, which is the foundational basis that ensures access to a public education for all K-12 students, regardless of immigration status.
A Safe Zone resolution does not require school personnel to refuse directives of federal law enforcement. It sets up a process for how school officials and educators respond to federal immigration requests. It provides steps that school personnel must request enforcement agents to follow. It sends a message to the community, as well, that education is valued and protected, as are the rights of our students and parents.
The NEA has created a sample school board or committee resolution and district policy that can be easily adapted for local needs and priorities. It includes these basic elements: an outline of who must be contacted if immigration law enforcement agents approach school personnel; that an effort must be made to contact parents or guardians; and steps and processes that the superintendent’s office must follow when enforcement agents seek to enter a school site or obtain student data.
Parents and students are looking to educators to be the leaders in defending their right to an education and a school site that is not being disrupted by enforcement activity.
Please review these resources, which are available at www.nea.org/resource-library/safe-zone-school-districts, and encourage your local districts to adopt these policies as soon as possible.
As educators, we must be prepared. We must require that federal enforcement agencies follow legal processes that respect the rights of our students, parents and communities.
Thank you for your service and consideration.
With our regards,
Max Page, MTA President, and Deb McCarthy, MTA Vice President
