Minneapolis Public Schools is allowing remote learning for the next month, claiming some parents are afraid ICE officers might apprehend them when they drop off or pick up their children.
Schools were already closed Thursday and Friday due to safety concerns as tensions boiled over the killing of 37-year-old mom Renee Nicole Good during an immigration operation Wednesday.
“This meets a really important need for our students who are not able to come to school right now,” read an email sent to parents by an administrator.
Minneapolis Public Schools will be offering families the opportunity to attend class remotely as federal immigration authorities expand operations in the city. APAbout an hour away in St. Cloud, school officials said parents are worried about attending next week’s parent-teacher conferences with so many ICE agents in the area — some right outside the school building.
“Many parents do not feel safe coming to our schools because of the fear of being taken away from their schools, their homes, and their workplaces,” said Chris Erickson, a media specialist who is on leave while serving as president of the district’s teachers union.
Here’s the latest on the Minneapolis ICE agent shooting:
- Cops frantically begged for help with ‘hostile’ protesters after Renee Nicole Good shooting: ‘ICE being surrounded’
- Minneapolis fire department report reveals Renee Good was shot 4 times by ICE agent
- What is the Insurrection Act of 1807 that Trump threatened to invoke?
- Minneapolis mayor accuses ICE of ‘causing chaos’ in city after illegal migrant is shot
ICE has previously said it won’t target schools despite a federal order last year opening up “sensitive locations” such as schools, hospitals and places of worship to raids.
In Bloomington, a suburb to Minneapolis’ south, teachers union president Wendy Marczak said it’s difficult for students to learn “when ICE is stalking your schools.”
Some families have stopped sending their kids to school, she said.
“ICE agents deliberately wait outside the school building during drop-off and pickup times, trying to catch parents and take them away,” Marczak said. “The consequences of those actions are devastating.”
“This is an OPTION and exactly what so many families need right now,” Marcia Howard, president of the teacher chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, said on Facebook Thursday.Remote learning sparked controversy during the pandemic — with parents and experts calling it a disaster that causes major social and academic setbacks.
