Norfolk says migrant students can enroll in town's schools, despite earlier statement

Town officials in Norfolk say they will welcome migrant children into district schools after a statement issued earlier in the week set off concern among some advocates.

The situation began shortly after Gov. Maura Healey's office announced Tuesday that the state's emergency housing facilities, or overflow shelters, would prioritize families who meet certain criteria and that stays would be capped at five days starting Aug. 1.

In response, Norfolk Town Administrator Justin Casanova-Davis issued a statement saying the changes would impact the emergency assistance shelter at the decommissioned Bay State Correctional Center in Norfolk — one of several overflow shelters around the state.

As a result, "children temporarily housed at the BSCC shelter will not be enrolled in Norfolk Public Schools or the King Philip Regional School District," Casanova-Davis wrote Tuesday.

By Wednesday, the group Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston urged Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell to intervene, saying it feared other districts might try to impose similar restrictions on migrant children.

"LCR urges the release of an advisory directing school districts to enroll migrant children," its letter to Campbell stated. "This is urgent to avoid a cascade of districts imposing restrictions or outright bans."

But by Thursday afternoon, Norfolk officials issued a new statement. "The Town of Norfolk and its public school districts welcome all children residing in our community into our schools," Casanova-Davis and the superintendents of Norfolk Public Schools and King Philip Regional School District issued in a joint statement.

In an interview Friday, Casanova-Davis said he did not intend to communicate that newcomer children housed in the emergency shelters would be barred from enrolling in the district's schools, despite how his initial statement came across.

"The town of Norfolk didn't unilaterally make any decision not to enroll kids or anything like that," he said, chalking up the wording in his initial message to "a misunderstanding." But the fast turn of events underscores just how precarious the situation is for migrant families and local school districts.

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a family has the right to enroll a child in school in the district in which they’re living. If they intend to remain in a district where their temporary shelter is located, they can enroll in that district. Districts cannot deny a child's enrollment because they are staying at a shelter, or what the state is now calling "temporary respite centers."

Casanova-Davis insisted that the town and local school district have always adhered to federal laws protecting the rights of kids who are homeless or undocumented to attend public school in their community.

In his Thursday statement, he said the town on Tuesday had been "advised by the state not to expect any new students from the latest changes to the emergency shelter system." But by Wednesday, "the state clarified to municipalities that students could possibly be enrolled."

Walton, of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said the group responded with urgency because it has seen other Massachusetts school districts enact burdensome policies, like requiring detailed immunization records, to prevent migrant children from enrolling in a local school district.

Glenn Koocher, the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said the laws around enrolling students who are in the country without proper documentation are well-established and that most districts follow the rules.

"There's a culture among teachers and educators and board members that you want to take care of everyone who is living in your community one way or another," he said.

The migrant influx in Massachusetts has brought thousands of new students into the public school system. According to state officials, 76 school districts last school year enrolled nearly 3,000 students who relied upon emergency assistance hotels and overflow sites — though  immigrant students constitute about half that number.

State education leaders say they're working hard to support communities that are educating newcomer students, including providing an additional $105 per student per day in funding, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"We believe deeply that every single student, regardless of circumstance, should have a high-quality education," Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler told WBZ in May. "Every student deserves that."