Orange County Public Schools says enrollment numbers are lower than expected due to fewer immigrant families sending students to school amid ongoing immigration enforcement raids in Florida.
The district says it has lost 6,600 students overall at the start of this school year. That's more than double what was expected this fall.
Deputy Superintendent Michael Armbruster says a majority of the students who haven't shown up to class are from immigrant families.
"Preliminary reports indicate our immigrant student population has declined by about 3,000," Armbruster said.
The drop in students could cost the district $25 million this year.
At the start of the school year, Superintendent Maria Vazquez promised immigrant families that school was still the safest place for kids.
"I believe our schools are the safest place for our children. They are able to get the education, the support services they need," said Vazquez.
A new Department of Homeland Security policy allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct raids in formerly protected places like churches and schools. So far, none have occurred in Florida schools.
During the first week of school, a traffic stop on Aug. 15 near Apopka High School resulted in five ICE detentions, which caused the school to be placed on a "Hold/Secure," a security measure where teachers and students stay in their classrooms during a heightened school threat.
Immigrant rights groups gathered at Tuesday's school board meeting, calling on the district to put more school communications in place for families after an ICE-related incident at or near a school, and for the district to do more to monitor social media posts that might include hate speech.
In a statement, the district says the security measure utilized at the school was only deployed out of an abundance of caution "for law enforcement to conduct a search of the area including the campus. When nothing was found the Hold/Secure was lifted without incident on campus."
The district says communications for families are already in place. Families were alerted during the hold and after it was lifted, and in the days afterward the district says it continued to communicate with families.
It says a code of conduct already addresses bullying and hate speech and the consequences for offenders.
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