MA G-L Tech H.School Will Require Legal Status Of Students
http://lowellsun.com/front/ci_2739808
G-L Tech will require legal status of students
By DENNIS SHAUGHNESSEY, Sun Staff
TYNGSBORO -- The Greater Lowell Technical High School will require its new students to be U.S. citizens or legal aliens beginning in August 2006.
“All of our students come here from feeder schools,� said School Committee Chairman Michael Hayden, whose two motions on the subject eventually won support from the board last night. “We don't normally get birth certificates or immunization records, so we don't know if students are here illegally.�
The first motion, which requires students to produce a birth certificate before admission, drew the ire of committee member George O'Hare.
“What's the purpose of this?� O'Hare asked. “Under this rule we will be able to deny admission to a good student. I'm not sure that's what we want to be doing. I can't vote for this.�
O'Hare said
students coming from a public school have documentation when they arrive at Greater Lowell Tech. Guidance Director Manny Manolopoulos agreed, asserting that no undocumented students attend the school.
“Their papers have to be in order before they walk through the door,� he said. “We receive all their records well before they get here. Our nurses come in during the summer to review all the immunizations. Athletes cannot participate in sports unless they have all their immunizations.�
“And there's no way around that?� Hayden asked.
“If someone is deceptive enough to alter their records in the first or second grade, it's conceivable that it would follow them all the way up,� Manolopoulos answered.
Hayden's motion called for long-form birth certificates that would state where the student was born. The proof would not be required of students already part of the Greater Lowell Tech school system.
Committee member Dennis “D.J.� Deeb offered an amendment that would require students to produce a Social Security card in lieu of a birth record. But his suggestion failed to get a second and was rejected.
“We all know that a Social Security card is as easy to get as a baseball card,� said Hayden.
A 1982 Supreme Court case prohibits states from denying a free public education to undocumented immigrant children regardless of their immigrant status, but Hayden said the school is on firm legal footing because Greater Lowell Tech is a selective secondary school.
“I contend that each student in the Greater Lowell regional school district is afforded a free public school education from their own sending schools,� he said.
But O'Hare insisted that the measure was distasteful.
“If you feel that there is a violation, they should be reported to the proper authorities, but if a parent made a decision to run over the border to try to do something for their children, go after the parent. Let's not take it out on the student.�
“The word is ‘illegal.' “ Hayden said. “What part of illegal don't we understand? If the parent is here illegally and their child is here illegally, why should we be breaking the law by letting them come here? I've received calls from parents of students who are on the waiting list. They want to know if anybody is coming to this school that doesn't belong here.�
Heidi Perlman, state Department of Education spokeswoman, told The Sun there is no statewide requirement that students show proof of citizenship for enrollment in the public school system.
Of school officials contacted in the Billerica, Lowell, North Middlesex, Tewksbury and Westford districts, none said they required students to show proof of citizenship.
The standards most of these schools systems go by are proof or residency, updated immunization records, and proof of the child's age. Transfer students are also required to provide transcripts or transfer forms so that transcripts may be obtained from their previous school.
After last night's debate, Deeb supported the measure, saying, “Illegal immigration is out of control and we need to do our part to stop it.�
The measure to require students to produce a birth certificate before admission was carried on a 4-2-1 vote with O'Hare voting no. David Tully and Michael Lenzi voted “present.� A second motion, requiring students to be citizens or legal aliens, passed on a 5-1-1 vote with O'Hare voting no and Lenzi voting “present.�
Dennis Shaughnessey's e-mail address is dshaughnessey@lowellsun.com.
