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Amid nationwide concerns about the conduct of federal immigration agents and fears locally about the potential for raids tied to the upcoming Super Bowl, Mountain View schools are stressing the protocols they have in place to protect students.
The school boards for both the Mountain View Whisman and Mountain View Los Altos High school districts are planning to vote next week to update policies governing their responses to immigration enforcement efforts. The moves come ahead of a March 1 deadline for all California school districts to submit revised policies that are compliant with new state laws.
“We’ve all seen the images on the TV of people pulling children and adults off the street and putting them into cars,” MVLA Superintendent Eric Volta said. “We’re going to do our best to prevent that from happening on our sites.”
The proposed board policies include stronger language to improve the privacy and safety of students and their families, Mountain View Whisman spokesperson Shelly Hausman said.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that schools are a safe place for students,” Superintendent Jeff Baier told the Voice. “This is a place that they can come to to learn, feel safe and go about their business of being a student each day.”
Previously, state laws “generally prohibited” school districts from collecting data on the citizenship or immigration status of students and their family members, the California School Boards Association wrote in a recent policy alert.
New laws go further, barring district staff from giving a student’s education records, family and household information, and travel schedule to immigration agents without written consent from a guardian. California now also restricts districts from divulging the personnel records and confidential information of employees, as well as banning them from allowing immigration agents to enter a school bus or nonpublic area where a district-sponsored program or activity is happening.
The exception to these restrictions is if an immigration officer presents a valid judicial subpoena, warrant or court order. In that case, districts would be required to comply.
“We have a number of new laws on the books designed to protect the rights of California’s students to safely attend schools to the fullest extent allowable under the law,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a press release. “In California, our diversity is our strength, and we will continue to stand up for our immigrant communities in the face of relentless attacks from the federal government.”
California lawmakers passed these new protections after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security rescinded a policy in early 2025 that prevented immigration agents from entering schools and other “sensitive locations.” At this time, local school officials came together to sign a letter affirming their “commitment to protecting immigrant students and families.”
Recent actions by immigration agents across the country, including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Goode, have sparked widespread fear and national protests. Just last week, thousands of local high school students participated in a walkout as part of a nationwide effort to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Many Mountain View Whisman families have expressed fear about immigration enforcement coming to the area, particularly around the Super Bowl, said Priscila Bogdanic, one of the district’s community engagement facilitators.
The school district recently sent information to parents about their children’s legal right to receive a public education; how to designate emergency contacts who can care for their children in the event they are detained; and how to reach the Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara County, which tracks and verifies local ICE sightings.
“I do believe, in the case of big events, if we don’t stay calm, we can’t really support each other,” Bogdanic said.
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