Charlotte educators report large numbers of student absences on ‘Day Without Immigrants’
Large numbers of Charlotte students stayed home from school Monday during a nationwide immigrants’ rights protest, CMS educators say.
People around the country took part in the “A Day Without Immigrants” movement Monday, refusing to work, go to school or shop at local businesses in solidarity with those targeted by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Trump administration revoked a long-standing provision Jan. 21 that previously prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from targeting schools.
Four CMS educators from four different schools say students told them the high number of absences Monday was related to the movement.
One CMS elementary school dean who requested to remain anonymous said as many as half of students at her school missed school Monday, with some classes having as few as five students present.
Justin Parmenter, a seventh grade English teacher at South Academy of International Languages, said he saw about triple the absences he would normally expect on a typical Monday.
A multilingual teacher at a high Latino population school, said in each of his three classes 50-75% of students were absent. He said students told him Friday about their plans to miss school for the protest.
One CMS media coordinator said she noticed many more students than usual were absent. When she asked one student about why classmates were out, she said it was “because of ICE and the police.”
The CMS Board of Education’s Intergovernmental Relationships Committee met Saturday morning, and one of the discussion topics was protections for undocumented students. However, no such item was ultimately included in the official legislative agenda the board passed Saturday.
The CMS board promised to comply with federal and state laws in a news release Monday.
“Due to the current state of uncertainty around immigration enforcement, our staff has re-issued long-established district-wide guidance on students’ protected rights and how to interact with immigration officers who come onto CMS property.,” the news release said.
Every student is entitled to a free public education regardless of citizenship status, according to the 1982 landmark Supreme Court decision in Plyler v Doe.
CMS said schools are not permitted to ask about a student’s immigration or citizenship status at enrollment and all personally identifiable information is confidential. Immigration officials can access school campuses or student records only with a valid court order. CMS employees cannot voluntarily report a student’s undocumented status to law enforcement.
CMS said no immigration officers have shown up on its school campuses since Trump’s inauguration.
This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 3:58 PM.
