Parent coalition urges APS to require judicial warrants, legal review and chain-of-command before outside law enforcement accesses students

During public comment at the end of the April 16 meeting, Jessica Stern, an APS parent and immigration and criminal-defense attorney, spoke on behalf of a coalition (the "Safe Space to Learn" coalition) that submitted proposed amendments to district policies (KM, KMR1 and EBB).

Stern said the coalition includes sign-ons from the ACLU of Georgia, Southern Center for Human Rights, the Asian American Advocacy Fund, the Latino Community Fund of Georgia, Atlanta Association of Rasa Educators, We Are CASA, Demolab South and others. She asked for four targeted changes: a judicial-warrant requirement before outside law enforcement may access students, legal-counsel review before access is granted, a clear chain-of-command protocol so front-office staff do not interpret legal documents under pressure, and a general adoption of safe-space protections similar to policies adopted in Gwinnett County.

"We are simply asking APS to meet the same standard," Stern said, and noted the coalition has been communicating with the district since December without a substantive response. She asked the committee to schedule discussion of the amendments before the end of the current term.

Chairman Brooks responded that the committee had put a judicial-warrant provision into recent policy language and that staff would follow up. The committee did not take formal action on the petition during the meeting.