
Reqiured Background Check to enter public school - mgamache
This year the public schools in my area have started requiring all visitors drivers license be scanned with a &quot;SafeVisitor&quot; system before being allowed access to any school. This system runs some type of background check and probably logs your access to the building. As a bit of a privacy and civil liberty nut, this strikes me as over the top and perhaps illegal. Do schools have the right to run a background check without my permission to gain access to my child at school? I am fine with showing my ID to a human to verify my identity. Just wondering the legality of this. I know this is not a legal forum, so if there&#x27;s a better place to ask let me know.<p>note: this is not for volunteers (they have a different check).<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.safevisitorsolutions.com&#x2F;safevisitor&#x2F;
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dalke
[http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/your-rights-parent-
pu...](http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/your-rights-parent-public-
school-student) makes it seem like there is a US law which prohibits a school
from asking for an ID. ("The people who work at the school are not allowed to
ask parents to show an ID or to give a social security number. You don't have
to answer questions about your immigration status or your child's.")

[http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2014/04/aclu_takes_so...](http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2014/04/aclu_takes_south_jersy_schools_to_task_over_registration_policies.html)
says that ID isn't required to enroll a student into the school district. More
specifically:

> In the letter to various school districts, Shalom cites the 1982 United
> States Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, which decided that undocumented
> children living in this country cannot be precluded from public elementary
> and secondary schools because of immigration status.

> ... “We were surprised by the number and broad range of school districts
> with restrictive, discriminatory enrollment policies,” said Jeanne LoCicero,
> deputy legal director of the state ACLU. “These policies exist in almost
> every county, from the poorest cities to the wealthiest suburbs, and
> everywhere in between. Clearly, the scale of this problem demands serious
> action, and serious self-examination among New Jersey school districts.”

You can ask what their policy is for undocumented people or those without id.

If they ask "aren't you a US citizen?" you can say "you are not legally
required to know that."

However, while I suspect that may let you pick up your child, meet the
teacher, and attend PTA meetings, I don't know if you might not be allowed to
chaperone or volunteer.

From one of Skenazy's posts (who schoen mentioned), that may require
background checks, as in [http://www.freerangekids.com/no-mam-you-may-not-
chaperone-yo...](http://www.freerangekids.com/no-mam-you-may-not-chaperone-
your-sons-field-trip-without-a-background-check/) .

~~~
mgamache
from this article: [http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/us/schools-immigration-
checks/](http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/us/schools-immigration-checks/)

> "They may ask for a parent's driver's license. But only to establish
> residency, not to determine legal immigration status, the guidelines say."

It looks like they can ask for proof of residency, but not immigration status.

~~~
dalke
In case it wasn't clear, "residency" here means residency in the district, not
residency in the US.

Nor is a license required for that proof. For example,
[http://www.browardschools.com/Parents-Students/Parent-
Studen...](http://www.browardschools.com/Parents-Students/Parent-Student-
Pages/Register-My-Child-In-School) shows that a Notarized lease agreement and
a utility bill suffice for that county.

For that matter,
[https://www.hcps.org/parents/proofofresidency.aspx](https://www.hcps.org/parents/proofofresidency.aspx)
says a driver’s license is not acceptable as proof of residency.

~~~
mgamache
Right. What's interesting here (in Indiana -- and probably a lot of states) is
that you can't get state ID without proof of being a US Citizen or proper
immigration status. So, asking for a state id is the equivalent of asking
about citizenship/immigration status.

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schoen
Maybe ask the local ACLU affiliate, or I think there's a forum of some sort
run by Lenore Skenazy of Free Range Kids fame (who is generally critical of
recent restrictions placed on kids and adults in the name of children's
safety).

~~~
mgamache
Thanks for the info, I haven't heard of Lenore Skenazy.

