Minnesota schools worried about funding decreases as students stop attending over ICE presence
The federal drawdown may have been announced, but many Minnesota school districts are worried about funding because of missing students and the continued ICE presence in their communities.
Just before the school day ends, monitors still patrol the streets around Columbia Heights Public Schools, looking for ICE agents. They reported seeing three agents within blocks of the schools on Tuesday.
"Columbia Heights is, of course, home to Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old who, along with his father, is now back home after being detained by ICE and taken to Texas," Mary Granlund, chair of the Columbia Heights School Board, said.
Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik says ICE not only remains in their community but also directly threatens funding for students
"Compared to one year ago, we are down about 130 students, and that equates to about $2 million in a decrease in expected funding for next school year," Stenvik said.
Schools are reimbursed by the state per student. Stenvik says students have been simply leaving; departures, she says, are because of ICE.
"There's a child that we have right now who's detained in the daily detention center. We simply could not locate her, and it turns out she had been taken, right?" Stenvik said.
Columbia Heights is among several Twin Cities metro area school districts that will be testifying before the Minnesota Senate and House committees about school finances and the continued presence of ICE in their communities.
In Minneapolis, the school district extended online learning through April. St. Paul says they have nearly 7,000 students taking that option.