Enrollment of multilingual students new to Richmond Public Schools has drastically declined compared to past years.

Only 495 multilingual students enrolled into RPS this school year as of Aug. 21, a plunge from last year’s initial multilingual student enrollment, which was about 850 at the same point, according to Jennifer Blackwell, the division’s director of Multilingual Learner Success, and division documents. 

“There’s a lot of fear coming from our students whose parents really have been impacted,” said Blackwell. “You’ve always felt some type of fear, but now that fear is very real, it’s very intense.”

The numbers are even lower among multilingual students born in another country who recently arrived to Richmond schools, also known as newcomers. Just 10 newcomers have enrolled into the division as of Aug. 21, down from the total newcomer enrollment of 465 this past school year. 

That decline comes at the same time as the federal government’s nationwide crackdown on immigration that has resulted in raids and mass deportations conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. It has also made it harder for foreign families to come to Richmond. 

“Our borders are essentially closed. I mean, the laws have changed and it’s so much more difficult to get into this country,” she said. 

Blackwell said it’s important to note that enrollment occurs throughout the school year, so the numbers are likely to change. By the end of last year, there were 1,427 new multilingual students enrolled. 

At the moment the numbers are even lower than the pandemic, when 645 new multilingual learners enrolled into RPS in the 2020-2021 school year.

This past spring, the division did not track absenteeism data by demographics, because the division hadn’t set up the proper systems to do so, Blackwell said. But she said that RPS staff saw attendance become inconsistent among Hispanic students – who make up 97% of Richmond schools’ multilingual learners. There were “pockets of times” where certain neighborhoods that experienced raids or conversations about expected visits from ICE would result in students missing school, she said. 

“Countless personal notes from students, families and community members to teachers, family liaisons, school counselors, and administrators expressed fear based on the current impact of the presence of Immigration Customs Enforcement in Richmond and the surrounding areas,” the presentation reads. 

She said that the division is currently tracking absenteeism by subgroup, along with specific reasons as to why students miss school, which can help the division better tailor needed resources. 

The data does provide insight on chronic absenteeism rates among Hispanic students, which showed a slight decline from the 2022-2023 school year to this past school year – 19% to 18%. But the rates haven’t reached pre-pandemic levels, as only 12% of Hispanic students were chronically absent during the 2018-2019 school year. The same trend exists for all English learner students. 

About 27% of Richmond schools students are Hispanic, according to last school year’s State Department of Education enrollment data. Just under half of the multilingual learners and newcomers in the division are also born in the country or are documented, according to the documents. 

RPS’ Welcome Center – which Blackwell oversees and is solely for non-English speaking families – has mainly seen enrollment for Kindergarten students and English learners who are transferred from another school district. Blackwell said a lot of those transfers are from other states like California or Texas, where there’s an even more heightened presence of ICE. 

“They might see our state being better suited in comparison to other places,” she said. 

But deportation levels are high in Virginia, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vocally supported the crackdown. 

Efforts to keep students in school

The fear began as early as November, shortly after current President Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, and picked up in January, Blackwell said.

In the Richmond area, a 21-year-old man was detained late July as he left Southwood Apartments for work. Multiple people were detained at the Chesterfield County Courthouse while appearing for court the month before. Both occurrences have drawn hundreds to numerous local protests.  

“When there were rumblings going around in the community, we would see the impact of that in the classroom .. empty classrooms,” she said. 

RPS students also participated in “A Day Without Immigrants” protest in February, where multilingual learners didn’t come to school.  

Blackwell said students, especially high schoolers, may have to seek jobs or take care of younger siblings if their parents or legal guardians are detained. Her department has compiled resources and guides available online and in person when families visit.  

She said the division has also held multiple immigration response and emotional distress training sessions for staff since January. Some specialized training occurred for certain staff like social workers, bus drivers, principals and ESL teachers, and at schools with higher populations of Hispanic students like Richmond High School for the Arts and G.H. Reid Elementary. Her department also collaborated with organizations like the International Rescue Committee to conduct those trainings. 

Earlier this year, the Richmond School Board also set policy on how much access the division will give federal immigration agents to school buildings, declaring that the presence of immigration law enforcement agents on school grounds “substantially disrupts the learning environment.” 

Superintendent Jason Kamras and School Board Chair Shavonda Fernandez (9th District) joined Blackwell to hold a virtual town hall in April, reiterating the procedures in place to protect students from ICE when at school. 

“The purpose of this town hall, it’s not just about policy, it’s about people. We want our families to feel informed, empowered and supported,” Fernandez said in April. 

While recognizing that the division can largely only control what happens on school property, Blackwell said that the division has partnerships with other organizations and departments, like the city’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Engagement.

“When we have a family concern, we go straight to them, and often they’re already in contact with the family as well, and so together we’re able to provide those resources,” she said.

RPS is still trying to send the message that students are protected when they come to school without diminishing reasonable fear, Blackwell said. The division also has family liaisons that work with those families to ensure they’re hearing the same thing and are connecting them with resources. 

“We want to see our students thrive in the classroom because then that correlates to success in their overall lives,” she said. “Without really having that education as their foundation, then we’re failing them.”

Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org