But now, the four seniors aren’t just teammates, but good friends.

“The other guys are also pretty passionate about what they’re doing for the project, and it’s really good working with them,” said Sjoquist, a Highland High School senior. “We’re able to have trust in the other person to get their part of the job done, and we’re able to work on our own thing at the same time.”

The four Northwest Indiana high schoolers make up a construction team that has seen regional and national success. In June, the teens will compete in the Skills USA Championships, which celebrates skilled trades and accomplishments of those interested in trades, according to the SkillsUSA website.

The week-long conference, which is held in Atlanta, brings together 6,500 state champions who compete for national gold, silver and bronze medals in 114 different competitions. The group will compete in SkillsUSA’s TeamWorks category, which focuses on carpentry, roofing, masonry, plumbing, electrical and teamwork skills.

Garner said last year the classmates competed individually, but they learned this year that they do better as a team.

The group won SkillsUSA’s state competition in April, and Garner said they placed second at a regional competition.

“I’m pretty excited (for nationals),” Garner said. “For state, we weren’t really — or at least I — wasn’t expecting too much of a good outcome, but we got first. I’m just going to try not to be too worried about it, but be prepared and go into it and have fun.”

Graham, Sjoquist and Waszak all said they’re excited for the SkillsUSA national competition as well. Waszak said they can all focus on different areas they’re most passionate about, and he thinks that creates a better final product.

Scott Ciupak, the group’s construction technology instructor at the Hammond Area Career Center, said watching their success has set a good example for current and future career center students.

“It’s very fulfilling,” Ciupak said. “They’re just very ambitious, eager individuals, and it’s motivating for me because it encourages me to have more and more for them. … It really increases the quality of our program by having better examples and peer mentors for the group that comes up behind them.”

The Hammond Area Career Center offers 13 career pathways for students at 10 Northwest Indiana high schools, according to the center’s website.

The career center has a two-year program, where juniors typically make up the first-year class and seniors make up the second-year class. During junior year, students focus on structural components of building a house, including walls, floors and roofs framed out of wood.

Second-year, or capstone, students are taken to local job sites for nonprofits, Ciupak said, and they help with light remodels, flooring, painting, trim work and more.

“I’ve been using most of my skills on my house, which is in a big remodel mode,” Waszak said. “I redid the basement, I redid the bathroom, I did a lot of drywall, and my garage is half-insulated.”

Waszak wanted to join the program because he wanted to learn what options he had outside of traditional school.

Like Waszak, Graham joined the program because he was interested in the construction field, and he wanted something outside the traditional classroom setting.

“I really enjoy it,” Graham said. “It’s something I’m passionate about, and it’s fun, and it’s a way to give back to the community, while actually learning things that benefit us and our future.”

Although he’s still in high school, Graham owns his own business, Graham Property Services, which focuses on landscaping, lawn care and snow removal. The program has taught him how to effectively and smoothly run the business, Graham said.

Sjoquist also owns a business, Patriot Property Solutions, which helps with interior and exterior renovations, including work on patios, landscaping, deck building and staining.

After high school, Sjoquist plans to focus solely on his business.

The career center program has taught Sjoquist what his path might look like, and he’s learned what qualities he’s looking for in future employees.

“Going through this class, seeing what’s important to these people who are taking the course and seeing what qualities I should look for in employees, is definitely a big thing,” Sjoquist said.

After high school, Garner said he plans to attend Purdue University Northwest, and although he doesn’t know what he wants to study yet, the career center program has helped him learn more about his options.

“It was really nice to learn how the construction trades work,” Garner said. “In my opinion, college is better for me if it’s affordable, but I still really think the trades are important, and I feel like a lot of people should take the time to at least learn a little about them.”

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com

Washington, who has worked within District 228 for 11 years, said Friday that he is excited for the opportunity to better engage parents as part of the Hillside community.

The district, which serves about 5,000 students in Midlothian, Posen, Tinley Park, Markham, Hazel Crest, Country Club Hills and Oak Forest, falls behind state learning standards for English/language arts, math and science.

In 2024, about 19% of District 228 students were assessed as proficient in English/language arts, compared to 39% of students across the state, according to Illinois Report Card data. In math, 16% of district students were proficient compared to 28% of students statewide and 41% of district students were proficient in science compared to 53% statewide.

“I think it’s about getting parents involved,” Washington said about his goals to improve student outcomes. “I want them to have some skin in the game too, so to speak, because that’s the only way any school is going to be successful, if it’s a collaboration between the school and the home.”

Washington was athletic director at Bremen High School in Midlothian for eight years before becoming associate principal at Hillcrest. He said he aspired for more direct interaction with students, which has allowed him to make a positive impact as associate principal.

“We put some systems in place over here at Hillcrest that are really student centered and are looking to build on student success and climate and culture,” Washington said. “I think we’re on a good path. We’ve done some really good things around here, but we’re not satisfied.”

Hillcrest Principal Ron Towner was promoted to assistant superintendent for personnel and student services in anticipation of Assistant Superintendent Dan Goggins’ retirement.

As associate principal, Washington’s salary was $130,000, or close to $176,000 including benefits, according to the district’s 2024 compensation report. As principal, Towner made about $173,000, or more than $223,000 with benefits.

Washington’s salary as principal, beginning July 1, will be $152,000, the district said Friday.

Washington grew up on Chicago’s South Side and said he developed a passion for education watching his mom work as a principal and his dad as an assistant principal.

“I’ve always kind of watched them from afar and saw how they treated kids and how much they cared about their students and how much they were loved by their students,” Washington said. “I admired that in them, and it made me want to do the same thing.”

Washington said once he entered education himself, he admired Bremen District 228 from afar and was excited to work with students in the southwest suburbs.

“I want to make this place the gem of the community,” Washington said. “I want this school to be number one. I think we’ve got some great teachers in this building that really care about kids and will go that extra mile. And we have a really great administrative team where we’re all on the same page, pulling on the same rope.”

“So there’s a lot of adults in this building that care about student success and climate and culture, and that’s what I’m looking most forward to — seeing what other great things we can do … to ensure the success of our students,” Washington said.

ostevens@chicagotribune.com

“Buenos días, mijo. Good morning,” she tells each student as they take their meal, some giving her a hug, as they walk inside to start their day. After she hands out the last bag, she grabs her broom and cleaning supplies, ready to begin her own day.

For the students, Mica, as they call her, is not just another custodian at the school. Instead, she is like a grandmother. She prompts smiles, helps tie errant shoelaces and, from time to time, wipes tears from cheeks.

Ortiz’s kindness and support for the students have not gone unnoticed. This year, she was recognized as a top 10 finalist for the Cintas Custodian of the Year Award, which honors the work and often unsung role that custodians play in students’ lives in schools across the country.

Though she didn’t win the top prize, which included $10,000 and a trip to Las Vegas, she still hopes to use the opportunity of the recognition to return to school, improve her English and one day become a school leader. 

“Estoy feliz porque nunca pensé llegar tan lejos. I’m happy because I never thought I would get this far,” Ortiz said.

Chicago Public Schools employs 2,392 custodial workers to help keep its buildings clean — a job that is often more than just scrubbing floors and wiping tables.

Ortiz has worked at Hibbard for only four years and, in that time, has become a vital part of the school community, her co-workers say. She has helped build a culture rooted in love and equity, said Hiliana León, the principal at the school. Her impact goes far beyond keeping the school clean and well-maintained; she’s built a nurturing environment for students who often share her immigrant experience.

Ortiz is a leader, León said. She is a representative of the vital, compassionate work custodians do not only across the school district, but in buildings and public spaces everywhere. Ortiz has built a team of janitors and custodians at Hibbard that keep the school clean and the students safe, León said.

“Many look towards her as a leader and now they go above and beyond, modeling the work that she does for the children,” León said.

Other custodians have begun to welcome the children the way Ortiz does, León said. Some help to distribute cones during the start and the end of the school day to guide the children and parents to keep them safe from traffic. Some janitors and custodians now join the staff lunches, where many didn’t feel welcome before, León added.

Without knowing, Ortiz created a sense of belonging for the students and custodial staff. The recognition has not only uplifted Ortiz’s confidence, but the dignity of the rest of the custodians and janitors at the school, added León.

“When we see custodians or people working in the kitchen, we think of our brown people; that is their job, but no, we need to find a way how to elevate the strengths they bring to our school and help them grow. How do we grow Mica?” León said.

Ortiz was born and raised in Guanajuato, Mexico. She loved going to school and learning new things, she recalled. After getting a degree in accounting, the extreme poverty and family turmoil spurred her to move to the United States in 1995.

She became a mom of two. Ortiz went to school to learn English and eventually got a medical assistant certificate. After leaving her abusive partner, she raised her two children mostly alone and worked long hours, she said.

She started working at Hibbard after leaving a job as a nannie and senior caretaker.

The children at Hibbard immediately gave her a sense of purpose, she said. That’s because they remind her of her own children and the time she couldn’t spend with them growing up.

“So when I see that they’re sad or I can sense something is wrong, I try to be there for them and cheer them up,” Ortiz said.

Cintas created the Custodian of the Year Award 12 years ago “to honor the essential yet often overlooked role custodians play in schools across the country,” said Christiny Betsch, from Cintas, a workwear corporation.

“Custodians are critical to maintaining clean, safe and healthy learning environments, but their contributions often go unrecognized,” Betsch said in an email.

In a statement, Chicago Public Schools said it congratulates Ortiz for her recognition and called her an “important part of the Hibbard school community.”

Ortiz said her dream is to go back to school, learn to use the computer better and finally afford to take her family on vacation.

Her two children, now adults, no longer live in Chicago. Her daughter, 27, lives in North Carolina and is studying criminal justice; her son, 19, is in the U.S. Army stationed in El Paso, Texas.

“I’m sure they’re proud of me,” Ortiz said.

The students at Hibbard are proud and they remind Ortiz every time they can.

“When we walk the hall and we see her and she smiles at us, that brings everybody’s day up,” said John Murphy, a third grader at Hibbard. John met Ortiz in kindergarten. For him, he said, she is like a second grandmother.

“When someone is having a bad day, Mica knows that someone is having a bad day and Mica cheers them up,” John said.

For Manuel Calle, a fifth grader at Hibbard, even if Ortiz didn’t win the national honor, her presence at the school is already a privilege.

“Porque nos trata a todos con respeto y nos da mucho amor. Because she treats us with respect and gives us much love,” he said.

larodriguez@chicagotribune.com

He’s underscoring that pledge even as federal law prohibits senior members of the executive branch from asking the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or an investigation. The White House has said any IRS actions will be conducted independently of the president.

“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status,” Trump wrote on his social media site Friday morning from Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the weekend. “It’s what they deserve!”

The president has questioned the fate of Harvard’s tax-exempt status — which a majority of U.S. colleges and universities have — ever since the school refused to comply with the administration’s demands for broad government and leadership changes, revisions to its admissions policy, and audits of how diversity is viewed on the campus. That prompted the administration to block more than $2 billion in federal grants to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution.

Harvard stressed Friday that there is “no legal basis” to revoke its tax-exempt status.

“Such an unprecedented action would endanger our ability to carry out our educational mission,” the school said in a statement. “It would result in diminished financial aid for students, abandonment of critical medical research programs, and lost opportunities for innovation. The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.”

The Treasury Department directed a senior official at the Internal Revenue Service to begin the process of revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status shortly after a social media post from Trump in mid-April questioning it, although the White House has suggested that the tax agency’s scrutiny of Harvard began before Trump’s public comments targeting the school.

Democrats say Trump’s actions against Harvard are purely political. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, along with Massachusetts’ two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Ron Wyden of Oregon, called for an inspector general investigation into Trump’s attempts to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status.

Trump’s move “raises troubling constitutional questions, including whether the president is trying to squelch Harvard’s free speech rights and whether the revocation of its tax-exempt status will deprive the university of its due process rights,” the senators wrote in a letter Friday to Heather Hill, the acting Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

Mike Kaercher, deputy director of NYU’s Tax Law Center, said: “Overwhelming bipartisan majorities in Congress have enacted laws making it a crime for the President and his staff to request an audit or investigation of a particular taxpayer.”

An IRS representative did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Trump’s battle against Harvard is part of a broader campaign the administration is framing as an effort to root out antisemitism on college campuses. But the White House also sees a political upside in the fight, framing it as a bigger war against elite institutions decried by Trump’s loyal supporters.

The “next chapter of the American story will not be written by The Harvard Crimson,” Trump said Thursday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he delivered the commencement address at the University of Alabama. “It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide.”

The Harvard Crimson is that school’s student newspaper. The Crimson Tide refers to the Alabama school’s football program.

In addition to threatening Harvard’s tax-exempt status and halting federal grants, the Trump administration wants to block Harvard from being able to enroll international students.

Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.

As second-in-command and a key member of the leadership team responsible for balancing CPS finances, her departure, announced Thursday, leaves City Hall and the school board with the task of remaking the nation’s fourth-largest school system, which is in the red.

Both Chkoumbova and Martinez are leaving behind a new 21-member school board that is showing signs of fissures. Chkoumbova referenced that ongoing tension, saying she “(welcomes) accountability and clarity” that “moves away from personal agendas, politically influenced.”

“I think this (conflict) will settle over time, and things will move in the right direction, but I think that what’s going to be super critical for the progress of the district is that there is a unified, well-aligned vision,” she said.

Martinez was fired without cause by a mayoral-appointed board in December after refusing to take out a $300 million loan to cover the new teachers contract and a pension payment to the city. His time with the district ends in June, and a community-based selection process is in place to appoint a permanent leader to replace him this fall. In the meantime, the board will vote for an interim CPS chief executive officer to fill his shoes.

That vote is complicated by division lines on a 21-member partially elected and partially appointed hybrid board. After years of mayoral appointments to the school board, state legislation paved the way for all members to be elected in 2027.

In the meantime, the board has both mayoral appointees and victors of last November’s school board election, meaning it is split between members aligned with the agenda of the Chicago Teachers Union, which endorsed Mayor Brandon Johnson, and those independent of the powerful teachers union.

The divided nature of the board could prove challenging for a district under significant financial stress in the coming years.

Chkoumbova played a large role in heated contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union, whose four-year deal was approved by the school board last week, with a price tag of $1.5 billion. CPS officials have stated that there is sufficient funding to cover the first year of the contract, but have not provided details for the remaining three.

Complicating the contract asks is a budget season with a deficit of over $500 million and looming threats of federal cuts for school districts with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The budget should be balanced through a combination of outside dollars from the city, state and federal levels, and an assessment of how resources are diffused to sources like old and decrepit school buildings, Chkoumbova said.

“There should be a strategy for helping the district to reduce some of the ineffective investments that continue to be in our system,” she added.

School-level budgets for the following year are usually released by CPS in the spring, and Chkoumbova expressed concern that those estimates haven’t been put out yet. She emphasized that it takes a long time for a body like the newly seated school board to understand the nuances of a large school district.

“(The board) needs to trust the experts and the people who are going to be responsible (for implementing), which is this management team here,” she said.

An immigrant from Bulgaria, the outgoing chief education officer started with CPS in 2001, according to an email she sent to civic leaders Thursday afternoon with her resignation announcement. She worked her way up from Frederic Chopin Elementary School in Ukrainian Village to Disney II Magnet School in Irving Park, eventually securing administrative roles.

In Friday’s interview, she thanked the hundreds of educators, leaders and partners she worked with at CPS for their help in moving forward what she described as “groundbreaking initiatives.”

Chkoumbova described Martinez as “courageous.”

“He led with a lot of moral clarity, and we have seen it on the inside. He respects people. He treats everyone really well,” she said.

Instead of focusing on CPS’ tough financial straits ahead, she celebrated the district’s improved graduation and literacy rates, achieved in the wake of the pandemic.

Federal COVID-19 funding relief buoyed many of those gains, but those funds expire in 2026.

Chkoumbova hopes to remain in the education space after taking some time off. Leadership turnover has been a fixture of CPS during her tenure with the district, she said.

“I’ve been under four mayors and I don’t know how many CEOs. Honestly, I lost count,” she said. “But I always tell people there’s one constant … CPS is a resilient system.”

“I was so proud of myself and everyone that helped me with it,” Natalie Wadkins, a junior at Griffith High School, said. “I hope people take away that inclusion starts with them.”

In the 10-minute documentary, Wadkins highlights the work of Kitty Cone, who was born with muscular dystrophy, and her fight for federal approval of Section 504 part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which stated that any program receiving federal funding couldn’t exclude or discriminate against people with disabilities, Wadkins said.

The law wasn’t enforced for four years, Wadkins said, which sparked anger and frustration among people with disabilities, Wadkins said. So, Cone and other activists organized a sit-in at the San Francisco Federal Building, she said.

The 504 sit-in began April 5, 1977, and the activists remained in the building for nearly a month, making it the longest sit-in inside a federal building in U.S. history, Wadkins said.

Cone was a key component of the sit-in, Wadkins said, as she organized resources, like beds and first-aid, and connected with members of other organizations, like the Black Panthers, to grow the movement for the sit-in and disability rights.

Ultimately, on April 28, 1977, the government implemented Section 504, Wadkins said. But, activists like Cone continued to push for expanded rights for people with disabilities, like the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, she said.

After the sit-in, Cone went on to advocate for better accessibility, work protections and representation for people with disabilities, Wadkins said.

Wadkins, who is the vice president of Griffith High School’s Best Buddies program, said she chose to research the 504 sit-in because the topic of disability rights is important to her. As a member of Best Buddies, Wadkins said she spends time with students with intellectual disabilities.

“I see the barriers that they face,” Wadkins said. “Best Buddies has shown me how important inclusion and advocacy are in real life, just every day. It’s made me want to highlight the leaders that made their lives better.”

Wadkins worked on the documentary for National History Day as part of her Advanced Placement U.S. History class. Wadkins began researching the 504 sit-in by reading books and articles, and listening to first-hand accounts of the sit-in, she said.

Then, she wrote the script for the documentary and began gathering historical photos, video and audio clips, Wadkins said. As she edited the documentary together, Wadkins said she focused on pacing, emotional impact and accuracy.

The National History Day competition begins at the district level, Wadkins said, and four students advance to the state level. Wadkins said four students submitted entries for the district level, so they all advanced to state.

At the state level, Wadkins said her documentary was up against eight other documentaries. The judges had to choose four documentaries to advance to the final round, she said.

When her documentary ended, Wadkins said one of the three judges sat back and said, “wow.” They told her they liked how she put closed captions in the documentary, which provided accessibility for the hearing impaired.

“They said they enjoyed that I practice what I preach,” Wadkins said. “They were really inspired by my passion and drive to this topic.”

By placing second at the state level, Wadkins advanced to the national competition. Wadkins said she and another student from Indiana will go to the University of Maryland in June to compete.

Griffith Public Schools Superintendent Leah Dumezich applauded Wadkins’ accomplishment.

“Natalie is an example of a student who achieves in the classroom and out of the classroom,” Dumezich said in an email. “She has demonstrated integrity, self-discipline, and genuine leadership qualities. We are very proud of her and wish her the best of luck.”

Julie Larson, an English and Language Arts teacher at Griffith High School, said she helped Wadkins with editing the documentary. Larson said Wadkins found a topic that’s “really unique to talk about.”

“You can tell that there’s passion there for her topic,” Larson said. “I’m just thrilled for her.”

At the national competition, Wadkins and thousands of other students will present their projects in various categories over the course of preliminary and final rounds.

Wadkins said she’s excited to advance to the national level, and she hopes her documentary will have an even greater impact at that level of the competition.

“I’m really excited. I’m grateful,” Wadkins said. “Even if I don’t win, I just want to educate more people on the topic.”

akukulka@post-trib.com

The Ivy Tech board of trustees named Martin Pollio as the school’s 10th president Wednesday, succeeding Sue Ellspermann who’s served as president since 2016 following her resignation as former Gov. Mike Pence’s lieutenant governor.

Pollio will join Ivy Tech on July 1, according to a release.

Pollio has served as superintendent of the Jefferson County Public School District in Louisville since 2017.

His appointment follows a national search that involved faculty, staff, students, alumni and community stakeholders from across the state.

Pollio will head Indiana’s largest postsecondary institution, which serves more than 200,000 students at 19 campuses across the state and online.

“Ivy Tech is doing great things in Indiana,” Pollio said. “I’m honored to be joining such a strong institution, and I’m ready to continue building more value for students and communities across the state.”

During Ellspermann’s tenure, Ivy Tech focused its credentials on the workforce needs of Indiana employers and increased completions by nearly 120%.

Today, Ivy Tech awards nearly half (49%) of all postsecondary credentials earned by Hoosiers, including graduate degrees.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

A school bus, transporting suburban high school students and traveling westbound, stopped at a red light in the 3900 block of West 111th Street about 7:30 a.m., police said. A 64-year-old man driving an SUV attempted a right turn in front of the bus, and the bus struck the vehicle’s passenger side, police said. 

In all, 19 people were transported to area hospitals in fair condition, police said. 

Six students and the two drivers were taken to OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center. Six students were transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and five students to Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago. 

Josh Barron, superintendent of Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, said by Friday afternoon that all students on the bus during the crash were released from the hospital, and that some had returned to the classroom.

Police said citations against the SUV’s driver are pending.

Attorneys for international students say the new reasons allow for quicker deportations and serve to justify many of the actions the government took this spring to cancel foreign students’ permission to study in the U.S.

After abruptly losing their legal status in recent weeks with little explanation, students around the country filed challenges in federal courts. In many cases, judges made preliminary rulings that the government acted without due process.

Then the government said it would issue new guidelines for canceling a student’s legal status. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement document shared Monday in a court filing said valid reasons now include the revocation of the visas students used to enter the U.S.

In the past, if a student’s visa was revoked, they generally could stay in the U.S. to finish school. They simply would not be able to reenter if they left the country.

“This just gave them carte blanche to have the State Department revoke a visa and then deport those students, even if they’ve done nothing wrong,” said Brad Banias, an immigration attorney representing a student who lost his status in the crackdown. The student was once charged with a traffic offense, which appeared in a law enforcement database searched by immigration authorities.

Banias said the new guidelines vastly expand the authority of ICE beyond its previous policy, which did not count visa revocation as grounds to take away a student’s permission to be in the country.

Students learn their records were removed

In the past month, foreign students around the U.S. have been rattled to learn their records were removed from a student database maintained by ICE. Some went into hiding for fear of deportation or abandoned their studies to return home.

As the court challenges mounted, federal officials said Friday that the government would restore international students’ legal status while it developed a framework to guide future action. The new policy emerged in court a few days later.

The new guidance allows for revoking students’ status if their names appear in a criminal or fingerprint database in a way that was not permitted in the past, said Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration attorney who has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 133 people in the U.S. on student visas who lost their legal status.

“Basically, they’re trying to cover what they already did bad by making the bad thing that they did now legal for them to do,” Kuck said.

Many of the students who had visas revoked or lost their legal status said they had only minor infractions on their records, including traffic violations. Some did not know why they were targeted at all.

Lawyers for the government provided some explanation at a hearing Tuesday in the case of Banias’ client Akshar Patel, an international student studying information systems in Texas. Patel’s status was revoked and then reinstated this month, and he asked the court to keep him from being deported.

In court filings and at the hearing, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through the National Crime Information Center, an FBI-run database that contains reams of information related to crimes. It includes the names of suspects, missing persons and people who have been arrested, even if they have never been charged with a crime or had charges dropped.

In total, about 6,400 students were identified in the database search, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said Tuesday at the hearing. One of the students was Patel, who was pulled over and charged with reckless driving in 2018. The charge was ultimately dropped — information that is also in the database.

Patel appears in a spreadsheet with 734 students. That spreadsheet was forwarded to a Homeland Security official, who, within 24 hours of receiving it, replied: “Please terminate all in SEVIS,” referring to a different database listing foreigners who have legal status as students in the U.S.

Judge suggests government did not review individual records

Reyes said the short time frame suggested no one had reviewed the records individually to find out why the students’ names were in the database.

“All of this could have been avoided if someone had taken a beat,” said Reyes, who was appointed by President Joe Biden. She said the government had demonstrated “an utter lack of concern for individuals who have come into this country.”

While the Department of Homeland Security was revoking students’ legal status, the State Department was canceling the visas some students used to enter the country.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he canceled some visas because of student involvement in pro-Palestinian protests, which he says hurt U.S. foreign policy interests. But he acknowledged in March that some of the cancellations were “unrelated to any protests” and were “just having to do with potential criminal activity.”

“My standard: If we knew this information about them before we gave them a visa, would we have allowed them in?” Rubio told reporters in March. “If the answer is no, then we revoke the visa.”

Even though students used to remain in the U.S. after their visas were revoked, Rubio espoused a different standard in March: “Your visa is expired, your visa is revoked, you have to leave,” he said. “There is no right to a student visa.”

Crackdown sowed chaos and confusion on campus
At the start of the crackdown, when colleges discovered the students no longer had legal status, it prompted chaos and confusion. In the past, college officials say, legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school.

In some cases this spring, colleges told students to stop working or taking classes immediately and warned them they could be deported.

Government attorneys said the change in the foreign students database did not mean the students actually lost legal status, even though some of the students were labeled “failure to maintain status.” Instead, lawyers said, it was intended to be an “investigative red flag.”

Patel “is lawfully present in the U.S.,” Andre Watson of the Department of Homeland Security said. “He is not subject to immediate detention or removal.”

Reyes declined to issue a preliminary injunction and urged lawyers from both sides to come to a settlement to ensure Patel could stay in the U.S.

She told them some kids and parents were scared to come in for fear of getting detained and deported, and she explained the concept of the United States border to her children for the first time — that they were born in Chicago and had documents that some of their classmates might not have.

“And even then, my kids were like, ‘How is this possible? How can they be so afraid that they don’t even want to come to school? … Mommy, you always say going to school is good. How is it not good now for some friends?’” Duran remembered them asking her.

Trump’s hard-line immigration policy has taken a deep emotional toll on communities with large undocumented populations. And though attendance at the elementary school has slowly recovered in the months since Trump took office, fear and anxiety linger among parents, teachers and students at some Chicago public schools.

Data obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request shows that attendance rates fell at all schools across the district the week of Jan. 20, when the 47th president was sworn in. Over 50% of students attending the 10 schools that experienced the biggest attendance drops are Latino, according to enrollment data on the district’s website.

The names of the schools are being withheld at Chicago Public Schools’ request, out of concern for potential retaliation from the federal government.

While the district has taken steps to respond, parents and those working with students describe the effect of Trump’s immigration policy changes as insurmountable. It will likely have long-term effects, they say.

Students carry a heavy burden worrying about whether their parents will be swept up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, the counseling support they need to relieve their worry is spread thin, said Roy, a teacher at a South Side elementary school whose last name is not being used out of safety concerns for his students.

“We do have counselors, but they don’t speak Spanish,” he said. “That’s a resource that a lot of schools need now, especially with newcomers.”

CPS officials attributed the decline in attendance on Jan. 22, after the four-day weekend, to concerns about immigration enforcement across the city, while recognizing other factors, such as unusually cold weather, illness and transportation barriers.

In a statement, the district called conclusions derived from selective attendance data “misleading and speculative” and said the interviews with parents “do not reflect the lived experiences of the vast majority of CPS  school communities.”

“While weekly attendance rates can vary due to many routine and situational factors… these fluctuations must be viewed with appropriate context and care,” the statement said. “This type of reporting not only misrepresents the facts, but it also undermines the trust CPS has worked hard to build with historically marginalized communities.”

Emotional toll

Headlines about young U.S. citizens being deported by ICE have trickled into school settings, said Ana Espitia, a local school council member and crossing guard at an elementary school in Little Village, a neighborhood known for its strong Mexican American culture.

One migrant kindergartner has repeatedly come to school in tears, worried immigration officials might arrest his mom or dad, and that he wouldn’t see them again, Espitia said.

“A lot of times, kids use being sick as an excuse. They say they have a headache, or their stomach hurts,” Espitia said.

In some cases, students are bullying each other, saying they hope Trump will deport the other, according to Rocio Becerril, an immigration attorney who is an authorized vendor with CPS. She referenced an 11-year-old who died from suicide in Texas amid deportation rumors at school.

“This anti-immigrant sentiment is (likely) coming from their parents,” Becerril surmised. “But for that information to get to them is disheartening.”

Becerril leads Know Your Rights presentations to CPS parents and said that in recent weeks, fewer people have attended those sessions.

“People just curl up and pull away,” she said. “There’s so much information out there, and there’s so much misinformation.”

Inauguration Day

Parents recounted a significant psychological effect on their kids at a Back of the Yards elementary school where two U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials tried to enter on the Friday after Trump’s inauguration. The district sparked a panic when it falsely proclaimed ICE agents had tried to enter the building.

“They’re going to deport everyone who has our skin color,” an Ecuadorian migrant student, Aaron, said to his mom, Mary, at dismissal outside the school three days later, as she quieted his nerves.

Roy, the teacher at the South Side elementary school, teaches a class of all bilingual second-grade students, many of whom stayed home the last two weeks of January, which began with Trump’s inauguration. It was unusual, he said, because before those weeks, his students had almost perfect attendance. And it coincided with standardized testing, he said.

A Tribune review of CPS attendance data at Roy’s school confirmed his account.

“It was definitely difficult for teachers to continue instruction as normal,” he said. “It’s not something that these (students) should be worried about. … They should be focused on their learning.”

There are students in his classroom from Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, and he said they are “resilient.” He tries to maintain routines and positivity with their families.

The district does not track the citizenship status of its students because federal law states that all children in the United States, including immigrants, have the right to a public education.

Attendance at schools that experienced the biggest drop in the first week has steadily returned to a normal range, according to the data obtained by the Tribune.

Ongoing concerns

Outside a high school in Little Village on a recent afternoon in April, Kimberly Atencia confirmed that she kept her son home during the first two weeks of Trump’s presidency. Atencia, who is from Colombia, said the school serves a large population of migrants who arrived on buses from the southern border in August 2022.

The school had one of the highest attendance drops. It experienced a roughly 20% decline in average attendance rates between the week before and after Trump was inaugurated. The same weeks in previous years did not experience the same fluctuation, data shows.

“The numbers here have mostly returned to normal,” Atencia said. “But immigration enforcement activity in the area still sometimes makes people stay indoors.”

In April, such immigration enforcement acts included emailed notices from the Department of Homeland Security instructing migrants to leave the U.S. or “the government will find you,” numerous asylum-seekers told the Tribune.

The notices state that DHS is exercising its discretion to terminate parole, a form of legal entry that was expanded under the administration of former President Joe Biden.

They were sent to individuals, including U.S. citizens, seemingly without reason, said Nubia Willman, former deputy chief of staff and director of the Office of New Americans under ex-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The notices have caused some people to self-deport, Willman said.

“Because everyone’s situation is different, it’s important folks get a consultation from a licensed attorney or accredited representative to make sure they are making decisions based on facts,” she said.

To help families with CPS students who received notices cope with an overwhelming amount of uncertainty, Juan Carlos Ocon, the principal of a high school in Pilsen, sent an email reviewed by the Tribune to his student body on April 15, urging his school’s community to continue to “lead with empathy and support.”

“If your student or someone in your family has received this letter … please inform me immediately,” he wrote. “I will personally meet with the student/family and ensure they are connected with an attorney who can help them understand their rights and navigate the process.”

Asked for comment, Ocon did not respond.

Quelling grief and anxiety 

CPS officials said they refer families to reputable organizations that offer free or low-cost legal assistance with immigration matters. The district has a website that is regularly updated with multilingual resources.

The district is taking proactive measures to make sure schools are “safe places,” where fear is left at the door, said Bianca Ramos, senior mental health consultant at Lurie’s Children Hospital’s Center for Childhood Resilience. She partners with the CPS Office of Social Emotional Learning to lead trainings for school counselors, clinicians and other staff members who directly work with kids.

Schools reach out to parents proactively, rather than waiting for families to come to them, Ramos said. They’ve adjusted their signage and provided virtual and other more flexible scheduling options for classes.

“When we talk to kids, we make sure that they’re limiting their media exposure or speaking to trusted adults so that they can get the resources and the support that they need,” she said.

Nonprofit organizations and other groups have also stepped in, but say that more needs to be done.

Children don’t often have the language to express their anxieties, said Silvia Rodriguez Vega, author of “Drawing Deportation: Art and Resistance Among Immigrant Children.”

Vega spent 10 years researching immigrant children in Arizona and California to provide accounts of children’s challenges with deportation under previous presidential administrations.

She suggested that schools provide more art-making opportunities for immigrant students. All children are naturally creative, she said, but those from low-income families often lack access to various art forms.

“Art can be literally a lifeline when they face a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear, like many children currently do,” Vega said.

In January, ICE visited the apartment complex where Rossyel Ward, a migrant from Venezuela, has settled in Chicago, she said. She wasn’t home at the time, but said she heard from her neighbors, who are also migrants. She has two kids who attend an elementary school in Pilsen, and although she was terrified, she sent them to school anyway.

“I can’t pass that fear on to my children,” she said. “It would stay with them.”

Under Trump, she said, she “feels the authoritarianism in a different way” than what she experienced in Venezuela under the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

She joined a parent mentor group at her kids’ school that she said gives her strength. They reach out to other migrant families who are scared.

“You can’t really form an opinion based on the politics of the government that’s receiving you — you just have to adjust to it,” she said. “As migrants, we have to make do.”

Chicago Tribune’s Joe Mahr and Emily Hoerner contributed.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from CPS.