A Message to Families from the Sanctuary Task Force- OUSD Will NEVER Ask about Immigration Status

SANCTUARY TASK FORCE
September 17, 2020
Dear Oakland Unified Community,
Oakland Unified School District supports our students, staff, and families no matter where they came from or
how they got here. OUSD is a sanctuary district, inside a sanctuary city, inside a sanctuary state.
Under our sanctuary district policy, our staff at schools and the central office will not:
● Call to ask for a student’s or family’s immigration status. We do not need this information for any
reason.
● Call to ask for personal information over the phone.
● Call to do home visits, except in the cases of some teachers and staff who have received training on
our virtual Parent-Teacher Home Visit protocol and plan to meet with families.
We learned that some of our families have received calls from someone who claimed to be an OUSD staff
member or with a company that works with OUSD. The caller proceeded to ask for personal information and, in
at least one case, about immigration status. To repeat, our staff is not allowed to ask for immigration status.
If anyone calls, texts, emails, or approaches you in person and asks for such information, you should:
● Never share personal information.
● Never share your immigration status.
● Never open your door to someone you don’t know.
● Quickly inform us of any incident involving someone who is asking for this kind of information.
To reiterate, we are committed to ensuring all families know they are welcome in OUSD, and we will do
everything possible to ensure students enjoy their constitutional right to attend school and benefit from all
school services regardless of their immigration status.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].
Thank you.
OUSD Sanctuary Task Force