BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 The Bakersfield City School District is planning on making revisions to its policy detailing how it should respond to immigration enforcement to be in compliance with a new state law, according to the Board of Education agenda for Tuesday.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 9, 2025, the California Department of Education alerted all California school districts of Assembly Bill 49, according to the agenda.<\/p>\n
Watch \u2018After Sunrise\u2019 on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices <\/a><\/p>\n AB 49 prohibits immigration enforcement officers from entering school campuses or gathering information about students or their families without a valid warrant or court order.<\/p>\n The bill also requires the state Attorney General to update model policies<\/a> regarding immigration enforcement for school districts by Dec. 1, 2025, and the school districts to adopt those updated policies by March 1, 2026, the agenda said.<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom approved the bill Sept. 20, 2025.<\/p>\n The Board needs to get a first reading of the proposed revision to the policy titled \u201cResponse to Immigration Enforcement\u201d in January and approve it in February due to the short deadline, according to school officials.<\/p>\n The purpose of this revision is to add all required language from the Attorney General \u2014 which currently exists in other BCSD policies or has been updated by the Attorney General \u2014 into this policy so the public, staff and state auditors and access it more easily, according to the agenda.<\/p>\n The proposed revisions include guidelines on gathering and handling sensitive student information, sharing student information with outsiders, dealing with immigration officers on school grounds, notifying parents of immigration enforcement actions, responding to the detention or deportation of a family member and more.<\/p>\n Several of those additions already exist in other BCSD policies.<\/p>\n BCSD isn\u2019t allowed to seek information or documentation indicating the student or their family\u2019s immigration status, citizenship status or national origin unless it\u2019s required by law for admission into special programs, in which case it would have to ask for information separately from the school enrollment process, according to the draft.<\/p>\n The school district should make a photocopy of a request for information and immediately consult legal counsel, according to the revision.<\/p>\n \u201cNo information regarding students, their families, teachers, or employees shall be disclosed, to the extent practicable, to an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement without a judicial subpoena, judicial warrant, or court order,\u201d the draft read.<\/p>\n According to the draft, the superintendent should talk with legal counsel about how to respond when faced with an administrative subpoena because federal and state laws don\u2019t require the school district to share information with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other agencies within DHS without a court order, judicial warrant or subpoena.<\/p>\n The policy was first adopted in August of 2018 and last revised in August of 2025.<\/p>\n The school district is also seeking changes in other policies as part of AB 49.<\/p>\n