by donnie johnston
The Culpeper County School Board had a clear response to a request from the Culpeper Town Council to provide cost estimates for services rendered to illegal immigrants.
The answer was, essentially, it's illegal to ask for that information from students, and the division likely wouldn't ask if it could.
"I think we have to stop talking about children born here or brought here by their parents as being illegal persons, or lawbreakers," said board member Bob Beard.
And the usually soft-spoken George Dasher snapped, "I'm really bothered by this letter!"
Division Superintendent David Cox advised the board that both federal and state law (plus a Virginia attorney general's opinion) make it clear that asking students about their immigration status is a no-no.
He cited a 1982 United States Supreme Court decision that declared that a Texas statute prohibiting school districts from admitting the children of illegal immigrants was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
"That was a landmark case that has not been overturned," Cox said.
The superintendent said that the only statistic he felt the board could furnish was a chart showing the number of English as a Second Language students that were enrolled.
Dasher argued that it was a mistake to "attach this form to this letter" because of how the ESL numbers might be interpreted. "Will someone conclude that these children are illegal because of their lack of English proficiency?" he asked. "People like to connect dots and these dots cannot be connected."
And Leanne Jenkins said that the ESL numbers should be sent "with a very large disclaimer."
Statistics show that there are currently 420 students enrolled in Culpeper County ESL programs, up from five in 1993. Cox was quick to point out, however, that those students represent native speakers of 17 different languages, not just Spanish, to which the town probe is aimed.
"I see these figures more as a show of growth," said Jennifer McCauley.
Town Councilman Steve Jenkins, who has been at the heart of the illegal immigrant controversy since taking office last July, was present at last night's meeting but made no comment.
"The bottom line is that we have no illegal children," Cox said.
Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com