SAUGUS — Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children have sent a letter to the School Committee urging it to revise its admissions policy out of concern that it creates undue burdens on families because of their immigration status.
In a letter sent to the School Committee on Aug. 15, the organizations said that the committee had “exceeded its statutory authority by impermissibly denying enrollment to children whose families do not complete the Town of Saugus census.”
The letter states that the policy is “overly stringent” and that its requirement of providing identification documentation places an “undue burden on immigrant and mixed-status families.”
These requirements, which include, per the policy, evidence of residency, evidence of occupancy, and evidence of identity, are “violating rights guaranteed under both the U.S. and Massachusetts Constitutions,” the letter stated.
The letter alleges that the policy violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that it is unlawful to “exclude children from public education based on their immigration status.” The letter also referenced Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 76, Section 5, which states that “every person shall have a right to attend the public schools of the town where he actually resides.”
The policy states that “no child who actually resides in Saugus will be denied access to school because of his or her immigration status or the immigration status of his or her parent(s)/guardian(s).”
The letter also states that the committee cannot enforce a residency requirement without “chilling… homeless families’ rights to enroll their children.”
School Committee Chairman Vincent Serino said that Saugus and most other communities have admissions policies in place to ensure that students attending municipal school districts are residents of that municipality, and not of a surrounding community.
“This policy states, very clearly, that no child who actually resides in Saugus will be denied access to school due to immigration status, nor by law would it apply to homeless students who are entitled to an education here,” Serino said. “This is both our policy and practice.”
The current policy, implemented in August 2023, also states that “families who move to Saugus must complete the Town of Saugus census… to be eligible to register their children in the school system.”
The letter takes issue with the requirement for completion of the town census, stating that “there is nothing in the law that authorizes a school committee to use a town census to bar children from school attendance. Any attempt to do so goes far beyond the legal authority of the school committee and is therefore invalid… Saugus is impermissibly penalizing families for exercising their right to not participate in the town census.”
The letter also states that the requirement that guardians provide a Massachusetts driver’s license, a U.S. passport, a Massachusetts ID, or another government-issued ID is “flawed,” as it states that “many families – especially newly arrived migrants – lack this documentation.”
The letter ends by urging the committee to revise the current admissions policy before Aug. 27, so that “no schoolchildren will be unlawfully excluded or deterred from enrollment in the Saugus Public Schools.”
Superintendent of Schools Michael Hashem did not respond to a request for comment.
