OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma State Board of Education approved proposed rule changes, including one on gathering data about student's immigration status, at a regular meeting on Jan. 28.
This came after around 100 Oklahomans gathered at the OSDE building before the meeting to protest the rule change and Walters' statement on letting immigration officers into schools.
"School should be for education and now they’re just afraid to go," said protester Gabi Hernandez. "I have a little brother and he has already asked me why people hate the color of his skin. He’s six years old. He shouldn’t know that.”
The new rules would require legal guardians to provide proof of their citizenship, as well as their child's, when enrolling their students. They would also require schools to document how many students could not provide proof of citizenship.
OSDE held a public meeting on Jan. 17 to get feedback on the rule change. Here's how that went:
When discussing the rule change in the meeting, Board Member Katie Quebedeaux asked if the information gathered on immigration status would be directly linked to students' identities or would it be anonymous.
"We would be able to gather the information," Walters said. "The information is going to be 'did you provide the documentation we are asking?' That will be the information that is gathered."
Board Member Donald Burdick asked, "In simple terms, you're not actually determining an immigration status, you are determining do they have certain documentation or not?"
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"What we are doing is ensuring that we have the documentation around the child to understand if they are a legal citizen for the purposes of resources and personnel alignment," Walters said.
Walters said once this data is gathered, there is nothing in the rule changes that would deprive a student of educational services. He also said Attorney General Gentner Drummond said this information is legal to gather.
Students would not be kept out of school if they were not able to provide documentation, Walters said. But, as for the why, the superintendent said they need the data to ensure they're best utilizing the state's resources.
“We know that at a minimum the state of Oklahoma spent $474 million to educate the children of illegal immigrants under the Biden Administration," said Walters. "Those are resources, that is personnel that are having to be moved from inside the school year to meet the needs of those students.”
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Quebedeaux then asked if the information would be shared with anyone.
Walters said that the OSDE would keep that information private, but they would cooperate with law enforcement in the event of an investigation.
The board approved the rule changes, with one small amendment to a teacher accreditation rule. Now, the rules will head to the legislature for approval before going to the governor's desk.
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