Thread: {SOB} Parents without ID denied access to Del Valle schools

Parents without ID denied access to Del Valle schools
New policy protects students, district says
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By Katie Humphrey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, April 08, 2007

Laura Rodriguez wants to chaperon her daughter's class field trip.

But she can't get past the Del Valle elementary school's front office, much less on the bus, under a new policy requiring parents to present Texas- or U.S.-issued photo identification.

Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant, doesn't have one.

"They send papers home asking parents to help," she said in Spanish. "It's not that I can't; it's that they won't let me."

As campuses across the country tighten security, many Central Texas schools have incorporated computer software that checks visitors' criminal records to see whether they are registered sex offenders.

Del Valle is one of the latest districts to adopt the protocol, which entails running a Texas- or U.S.-issued ID or driver's license through a sex offender database. Then the computer prints a badge with the visitor's name, photograph and destination within the school. A visitor who is a registered sex offender must stay in the office.

Some school districts accept other forms of identification or make allowances for parents who do not have one, but Del Valle accepts only a Texas- or U.S.-issued photo identification.

That has some parents crying foul, saying the district is discriminating against immigrants by effectively barring them from school day activities and volunteering. Federal courts have ruled that students have the right to an education regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

"If they implement a policy . . . that they feel they need to keep students safer, they need to have options for parents who they know can't obtain documents," said Rosario Martínez, a University of Texas student and member of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán, a student activism group that is helping Rodriguez ask the school district to change its policy.

Parents without Texas- or U.S.-issued identification are not allowed into schools during the day because school officials cannot check whether they are sex offenders, said Celina Bley, spokeswoman for the district.

"We have to make sure that we provide safety for our students," Bley said.

The district bought the software from School Check IN. Company President Barry Peterson said that the software is designed to read domestic identification but that the company has been able to accommodate some foreign identification.

ButBley said she did not know what information is used during the scan and was not sure that the information could be entered manually. Furthermore, she said, even if those methods were possible, allowing immigrant parents to use the identification that they receive from the Mexican consulatewould not be fair.

"We have to make sure that we're asking thesame thing of all our parents," she said. "Everybody has to have a national- or state-recognized identification card."

The district began using the software at its 11 schools Feb. 1. It cost $1,000 per school to purchase the equipment, Bley said.

Eanes and Austin were among the first Central Texas districts to use a similar program, Raptor V-Soft. Several other districts, including Round Rock, Leander and Hays, have added Raptor to some or all of their campuses for the 2006-07 school year.

Martin Middle School in East Austin began using Raptor a couple of years ago at the request of the school's PTA, Principal Raffy Garza-Vizcaino said.

The school uses it to monitor who is on campus; a page is automatically sent to administrators and security personnel if a sex offender comes to the school. But the school does not turn away parents as long as they have some form of official identification, even if it is a Mexican consular identification card, Garza-Vizcaino said.

"You have to be flexible. You can't deny a parent from being on a campus," Garza-Vizcaino said.

Additional security has become increasingly common because schools want to take preventive measures to protect their students, said Larry Abraham, professor and chairman of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UT's College of Education. But having a welcoming environment is a good way to send a message, to both students and parents, that family involvement in education is important, he said.

A parental presence at school affirms the importance of learning and, in the case of young children, helps them adjust to a new environment, he said.

"It would be wrong for kids to believe that their parents aren't welcome in the school or don't have a place in the school," Abraham said.

It doesn't make sense for the district to be denying access to parents who want to help while also saying parents should be involved in their children's education, said Aida Rodriguez, who is president of the League of United Latin American Citizens Council 85 and is not related to Laura Rodriguez.

The group plans to request copies of the identification policy and work with the district to find a solution for parents without Texas- or U.S.-issued identification.

"They are closing the doors to all these families," Aida Rodriguez said. "So where do you want them to get involved if you're not meeting them halfway?"

khumphrey@statesman.com; 445-3658



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The group plans to request copies of the identification policy and work with the district to find a solution for parents without Texas- or U.S.-issued identification.

easy solution, deport them! anchor and all!

It is time we put our foot down on the schools who are enrolling illegal immigrants. The school is putting American children at risk for diseases that the illegals are not screened for. Our American students are also being forced to embrace this lawlessness or be cast out as a racist. Every American parent with a child in public school needs to demand that the schools will not allow illegals, or the parent should have the right to pull their child out of school. Afterall, it is the American taxpayer who is paying for these public schools, not illegals.

What about construction at schools? I bet they cannot do any kind
of criminal or id verification of many of the workers.

I think it is a necessary measure to require ID of visitors to our schools. So some mom's can't go on field trips with kids, big deal. The safety of the kids is more important.

I had to complete a background check to volunteer at the school. Parents should demand these checks. There are too many wierdos out there.

If you are undocumented, there is a possibility that you have done something illegal. You should not be in our schools, or around our kids.

I know I had to show identification and go through a background check to volunteer at my kids school and go on field trips. With divorced and single parents, nut jobs on the loose, they can't go easy on these safety measures. There is no "meeting half-way" when they have no valid documents.

I got so mad after reading the part about how we are "discriminating" against ILLEGAL ALIENS by not letting them go on the field trip, I had to quit reading the article.

I guess I didn't miss much. It's always the same old whine and the same old rant. They need some new "material".

Some school districts accept other forms of identification or make allowances for parents who do not have one, but Del Valle accepts only a Texas- or U.S.-issued photo identification.

That has some parents crying foul, saying the district is discriminating against immigrants by effectively barring them from school day activities and volunteering. Federal courts have ruled that students have the right to an education regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

Some school districts accept other forms of identification or make allowances for parents who do not have one, but Del Valle accepts only a Texas- or U.S.-issued photo identification.

That has some parents crying foul, saying the district is discriminating against immigrants by effectively barring them from school day activities and volunteering. Federal courts have ruled that students have the right to an education regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

Now, there's a law that needs to be changed!

"They send papers home asking parents to help," she said in Spanish. "It's not that I can't; it's that they won't let me."

Of course they won't let you! Illegal immigrants can't participate in school activities. How stupid of her to think she could just come and go as she pleases.

That has some parents crying foul, saying the district is discriminating against immigrants by effectively barring them from school day activities and volunteering. Federal courts have ruled that students have the right to an education regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

No one is discriminating against LEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
Students of illegal immigrants are allowed the right to an education. If I had the choice, I would never make it a law to give public education to illegal immigrants.