Castleberry schools will vote on joining ‘welcoming and protective’ movement
The Castleberry school board will vote Monday on a “welcoming and protective” resolution aimed at reminding the community that the district is tasked with teaching all students, regardless of immigration status.
“The federal law states we have to take the kids who come through those doors,” said Superintendent John Ramos, whose 3,971-student district is 76 percent Hispanic.
Ramos said the proposed resolution will be available Friday when with the meeting agenda is made public. He described the resolution as one that outlines that Castleberry schools will welcome and protect all students who arrive to learn.
If approved, Castleberry joins Fort Worth and Dallas schools, which recently approved similar resolutions.
The Castleberry school district is northwest of downtown Fort Worth and includes River Oaks, portions of Sansom Park and Fort Worth.
Ramos said Castleberry has a diverse student population that includes immigrant families. Those families include people of mixed immigrant statuses. For example, one household can have U.S.-born citizens, legal residents and family members with no status.
Ramos said the school district doesn’t track students’ immigration statuses.
The district experienced absences Feb. 16 on “A Day Without Immigrants,” a national strike aimed at emphasizing the importance of immigrants to the country. Overall Castleberry’s attendance was down 10 percent, about 5 percent above normal, Ramos said.
Ramos said students worry about their immigrant classmates. Additionally, he has fielded questions from concerned community members, who ask: “We are ensuring our kids are safe, correct?”
The resolution aims to answers these questions.
“Schools are safe,” Ramos said. “Teachers are going to support the efforts of educating students.”
This report contains material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Diane A. Smith: 817-390-7675, @dianeasmith1
This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Castleberry schools will vote on joining ‘welcoming and protective’ movement."