Sunrise Middle School

Nearly all of our students chose to march in solidarity with immigrants today, Day Without Immigrants. The students first learned more about the movement and made posters, then joined in the protest march from Sunrise to the Hwy. 101 Bridge and back, during their lunch hour. 

The sentiment was particularly strong, as some of students’ family, relatives and neighbors have been picked up by ICE immigration officers in recent days. 

The community responded in kind, with numerous drivers on Julian Street and on the free honking and shouting in support of the students.

The Sunrise Middle parent advisory ELAC committee met this morning and came up with a list of things they’d like to see in the school’s new LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) for 2025-2026.

The measures include:

• Teacher raises
• More funding for the after school program
• More hands-on elective classes
• More supervision in the parking lot
• School street crossing guards

The school’s administration will meet with various parent, student, staff and community groups over the next couple of months to formulate the new LCAP for next school year.

The LCAP for this school year can be found here: https://sunrisemiddle.org/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2024/07/2024_LCFF_Budget_Overview_for_Parents_Sunrise_Middle_Charter_School_20240622-merged.pdf?bsk_pdfm_doc_file_url=default

The Sunrise Middle School Board of Directors voted this week to re-affirm its 2017 policy of protecting all students at Sunrise in the wake of the incoming Administration’s threats of mass deportation.

The Board, as well as the school administrators and teachers, have re-affirmed that the school will not cooperate with immigration officers and will continue to consider the school a “safe haven” where students should be able to learn without threats to their safety.

“Migration to this country is often propelled by social, economic, and political factors and native country conditions, which result partly from U.S. government and corporate policies and interests, and thus immigrants and their families are here entitled to compassionate and humane treatment in this country,” the school board wrote in its resolution.

The school’s policy states:

• If an immigration enforcement officer arrives at our school site they will not be allowed on campus unless they have a warrant signed by a federal judge.
• The school will not release any information on its students unless required to do so by a federal judge.

In addition:

• We will immediately alert our families if we hear of an ICE raid in the area.
• We will offer to drive a student to or from school if an ICE raid is threatening parents from doing so themselves.
• We will continue our policy of not collecting information about the legal status of our students and families.

For students and families seeking additional information or support, please visit https://www.sccoe.org/supoffice/Pages/Immigrant-Student-Resources.aspx to learn more.

Echoing similar efforts backed by state legislators and the governor, the Sunrise Middle School Board of Directors has adopted a cell phone ban for Sunrise, effective immediately.

The unanimous 5-0 vote Tuesday evening re-enforces what is in the student handbook, namely, that:

• The student’s phone will be taken away if seen outside the backpack or pocket and then will be returned at the end of the day.
• The parent will be notified on the second offense, and the student may have the phone back at the end of the day. (Parents don’t need to come in to collect the phone.)
• The student will be on a cell phone contract and must turn the phone in to the office each day after the third offense. If the student doesn’t turn in the phone, the office will keep it overnight.

Meanwhile, the new, formalized policy strongly encourages parents to set parent controls on their students’ phones, allowing them to be used only for emergency phone calls during school hours.

The board policy also encourages parents to closely monitor what their students are doing on social media.

According to a new law signed by Gov. Newsom, all school districts must develop policies to limit smartphone use during school hours by July 1, 2026.

When signing the bill, Newsom stated: “We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression and other mental health issues – but we have the power to intervene.”