{"id":375879,"date":"2026-10-17T22:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T22:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375879\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T22:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T22:28:10","slug":"ice-policy-at-nyc-public-schools-grapples-with-student-safety-concerns-raised-by-bronx-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375879\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE policy at NYC public schools grapples with student safety concerns raised by Bronx shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City\u2019s public schools have updated their policy for responding to federal immigration enforcement to protect students during dismissal and after-school programs, a concern revived during the recent ICE shooting in Marble Hill<\/a> that happened around pick-up time.<\/p>\n

The prior guidance typically barred federal agents from entering school buildings while class is in session without a judicial warrant<\/a>, presented to a principal and shared with trained attorneys.<\/p>\n

The revisions, made just days before the start of this school year, expanded the guidance to cover all situations in which a school is responsible for student safety, including arrival and dismissal, and after-school or weekend programs and field trips. The update has largely gone unreported, with many of those interviewed by Daily News interviewed unaware of its existence.<\/p>\n

In the hours that followed the Oct. 8 shooting of Oscar Belgal, an undocumented Dominican immigrant, Mayor Mamdani quickly condemned how close the threat of gunfire came to nearby schoolchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool had just gotten out,\u201d Mamdani told reporters<\/a> during an emergency news conference that night. \u201cThe street was crowded with families and children. When ICE agents opened fire, a 5-year-old child \u2014 a 5-year-old child \u2014 was in the back seat of the car. Thank God that child is physically unharmed<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In court documents filed Wednesday, lawyers for Belgal, 28, wrote that he \u201cpicked up his five-year-old son from school and, before heading home, stopped at McDonald\u2019s to get him an afterschool snack.\u201d Father and son were just getting home when ICE agents, who Belgal claimed were masked and did not immediately identify themselves<\/a>, rushed the driver-side window of the car with the firearm. ICE, who cited Belgal\u2019s prior arrests, alleged he \u201cweaponized his vehicle\u201d and agents \u201chad to use force.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"FederalFederal agents take a man into custody after shooting and wounding him on Marble Hill Ave. near W. 225th St. in the Bronx on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. A child (circled) is held by an officer at the scene. (Stephanie Ferrer)<\/p>\n

Belgal\u2019s lawyers wrote that several high schools, a charter school and at least three daycares were in the vicinity of the shooting. Those included English Language Learners and International Support Preparatory Academy, a specialized high school for older immigrant students without a diploma. The city\u2019s first known student to be detained during President Trump\u2019s second term, Dylan Lopez Contreras<\/a>, attended the school, better known as ELLIS Prep.<\/p>\n

The new protocols say that teachers and staff who \u201cobserve\u201d or \u201care made aware of\u201d the presence of ICE near school should escalate the matter to the principal, who is tasked with conducting an \u201cinitial investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

If a report is validated, the principal or their designee may invite parents and guardians into the building and activate a shelter-in \u201cuntil the threat has been resolved.\u201d School staffers are explicitly advised not to \u201cmove or conceal\u201d a person \u201cfor the purpose of frustrating or impeding\u201d ICE.<\/p>\n

The school then notifies the borough safety director and Project Open Arms, a citywide initiative responding to new immigrant students and their families. Administrators work with their superintendent to alert the school community, and can implement a a \u201crapid dismissal\u201d or provide Know Your Rights resources.<\/p>\n

\"CCTVCCTV video shows ICE agents surrounding the car of Oscar Belgal on Marble Hill Ave. in Manhattan on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (NYPD)<\/p>\n

If ICE tries to enter the school building, the long-standing protocols go into effect, requiring a warrant signed by a judge and reviewed by education lawyers for its legitimacy.<\/p>\n

Chancellor Kamar Samuels told a citywide education panel<\/a> last month he updated the protocols to protect \u201cnew New Yorkers\u201d after school and on field trips. Samuels, a Jamaican immigrant, called the changes \u201creally important \u2026 to me personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have many more protections, but those are the ones that we added,\u201d Samuels said.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the ICE shooting, which education officials stressed occurred off property in a personal vehicle after dismissal, the principals of nearby public high schools sent a letter to families that included the updated guidance.<\/p>\n

Before the episode, officials said the protocols were disseminated to principals twice last month via newsletters, and another time via direct email to school leaders and superintendents alerting them to a new required training. Trainings have also been offered to after-school providers and other organizations that work in public schools.<\/p>\n

\"FBIFBI agents looks for evidence after ICE agents shot and wounded a man on Marble Hill Ave. near W. 225th St. on Oct. 8, 2026 in the Bronx. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

But some immigration advocates feel the reforms did not go far enough and have not been circulated widely.\u00a0Many called for the hiring of additional school officials focused on immigrant students and investing in resources to escort young people to and from school and subway or bus stops. But the easiest fix, parents and teachers agreed, is to better share the information that is already available.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t help allay the fears of parents and teachers who are trying to help who may not be in the loop, and the students for sure \u2014 who should be busy doing school work or whatever else kids should be doing,\u201d said Naveed Hasan, who represents Manhattan parents on the Panel for Educational Policy and a public school dad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not what we expected from the Mamdani administration<\/a>,\u201d Hasan added. \u201cWe really thought it would be bolder. We\u2019re not seeing boldness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martina Meijer, a Brooklyn elementary school teacher, learned of the guidance second-hand through another teacher in the Movement for Rank and File Educators, a teachers union caucus, and helped circulate an informal survey about outreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe answers were the same: What guidance? What are you talking about? And then we sent the guidance to them, and that was great. But why are we doing the schools\u2019 job for them?\u201d Meijer said.<\/p>\n

Meijer\u2019s students are learning to speak English. She said that after weeks of \u201cperfect attendance,\u201d three of her students were absent on the Friday after the shooting, and a fourth was late. She thinks that schools can do more to ensure that students feel safe to attend their classes, including better communication and more hires at Project Open Arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never know when these things are going to happen unfortunately, so we need to be ready all the time,\u201d Meijer added. \u201cI work in a system about education, but the people who work here don\u2019t seem to be educating other people about this information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gina Cirrito, the co-founder of Ma\u00f1ana Otro D\u00eda and a Manhattan public school parent, credited the Mamdani administration with a \u201creal want\u00a0to protect New Yorkers, but there\u2019s only so much capacity schools have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool are schools \u2014 they\u2019re trying to teach kids, and kids to learn. There\u2019s no blame here. There\u2019s just not enough resources,\u201d said Cirrito.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week, with the shooting of the man with his son in the backseat, a lot of people saw the humanity in that. This is a moment to talk about it and say, this has been happening around us. We\u2019ve been inching toward this. And we have things in place that can help \u2014 and people just need to be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City\u2019s public schools have updated their policy for responding to federal immigration enforcement to protect students…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[67,85,267,9,24,264,11,10,12],"class_list":["post-375879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-education","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}