With students heading back to school, the biggest school district in Tucson is examining the nature of its responsibility, if any, for the education of hundreds of immigrant minors separated from their parents after their illegal crossing of the US border.
Governing Board Member, Kristel Foster, has posed the question of whether educating the kids held in detention in the boundaries of the district is up to Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) and is to be discussed in a meeting on Tuesday. Foster says that educating the district’s children is their responsibility but it remains to be seen if they have the authority to undertake such a move. Estimates show that there are around 300 immigrant children held at 1601 N. Oracle Road, a facility formerly used as both student housing and a hotel.
Foster says that if the building were an apartment complex, the children living there would be attending a TUSD school, but that, as it is, they are not currently receiving any schooling. It is unclear whether the non-profit organization housing the detainees at the request of the federal government, Southwest Key, is providing an education, or of what kind.
Arizona Department of Education associate superintendent, Dan Godzich, says the department has been refused entry to the facility, along with members of the public and journalists. But, Southwest Key has placed adverts for several teacher openings at the Tucson facility.