Chicago Public Schools policy allows unlimited absences for illegal alien children amid ICE operations

FIRST ON FOX: A Chicago Public Schools (CPS) argumentation allows amerciable migrant students excused absences if they oregon their household members are acrophobic of national migration enforcement activities successful the area.

A papers called Chicago Public Schools' Attendance Coding for Safety Concerns Related to Federal Representative Activity, obtained by acquisition watchdog Defending Education, affirms that amerciable migrant students tin beryllium marked arsenic "excused" if a genitor conveys to the schoolhouse that they fearfulness national migration authorities.

Immigration enforcement actions are dubbed "federal representative-related procedures" successful the school's policy, which was reaffirmed by the schoolhouse committee successful February. 

Students locomotion to A.N. Pritzker simple schoolhouse connected January 12, 2022, successful Chicago, Illinois.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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"If a parent/guardian reports an lack and attributes it to fearfulness of national representative-related procedures, schools CAN excuse the lack nether 'concern for pupil wellness and safety,'" the argumentation says. "In the memo box, 'concern for pupil wellness and safety' should beryllium written."

No circumstantial details astir the lack are required — conscionable that a student's wellness and information mightiness beryllium successful jeopardy — and the argumentation explicitly states that "CPS argumentation does not supply a clip limit" connected however agelong fearfulness of national migration enforcement tin beryllium utilized to get excused absences.

The crushed for a student's lack indispensable beryllium communicated via 1 of the district's approved methods to beryllium considered an "excused absence."

Further, if a genitor is "impacted by national representative-related procedures," helium oregon she tin designate a guardian to pass the schoolhouse that the kid needs an excused absence.

A guardian and kid permission Hamline Elementary School aft connection that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were allegedly denied introduction to the school, according to Chicago Public School officials connected Jan. 24, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

MORE THAN 40 PERCENT OF CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS ABSENT AT LEAST 10 DAYS IN PAST SCHOOL YEAR: REPORT

Another proviso successful the argumentation allows students an excused lack if they privation to be a "Civic Event," defined arsenic "an lawsuit sponsored by a non-profit enactment oregon governmental entity that is unfastened to the public" that "includes, but is not constricted to, an creator oregon taste show oregon acquisition gathering that supports the ngo of the sponsoring non-profit organization."

"Chicago Public Schools is efficaciously telling families that fearfulness of national instrumentality enforcement is simply a lasting excuse to support children retired of people with nary clip bounds and nary insubstantial trail," said Kendall Tietz, an investigative newsman astatine Defending Education. "CPS should not beryllium turning attendance argumentation into a sanctuary migration tool. Instead, nationalist schools should beryllium focused connected getting kids to schoolhouse and keeping close records, not softly encouraging truancy and obstructing practice with national authorities. This argumentation undermines some pupil learning and the regularisation of law."

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents behaviour operations successful the Little Village neighborhood, a predominantly Mexican American assemblage successful Chicago connected Nov. 8, 2025.  (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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The schoolhouse strategy received much than $1.5 cardinal successful national payer funds successful FY 2024, according to its ain fund reporting.

CPS' Office of Inspector General precocious exposed $14.5 cardinal successful "excessive" question expenses by the schoolhouse strategy during FY 2023 and FY 2024, each portion lone 30.5% of students successful grades 3–8 were proficient successful reading, and conscionable 18.3% of students were proficient successful mathematics successful the outpouring of 2024. 

CPS representatives did not instrumentality a petition for comment.

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