Walk in groups, no headphones: D.C. families start school under Trump crackdown

The big picture: Earlier this year, the Trump administration reversed a long-standing policy to avoid immigration arrests in "sensitive" areas like schools, prompting many parents to worry that enforcement could happen on campuses.

• And team Trump has also indicated that it wants to get tougher on juvenile crime in the District.

The latest: While ICE officers won't be present at D.C. schools when they start this week, there could be an "exigent circumstance" in the future that would require them to enter campuses, acting ICE director Todd Lyons told NBC4 last week.

What they're saying: "This should be an exciting time," says Andrew Huff, a Brightwood Park resident whose children are starting classes in D.C. this week. "They should not be going to the first day of school wondering about, 'What do I do if a masked federal agent approaches me?'"

• Huff's kids will be walking to school in areas with an increased federal presence. He has talked with them about what to do if they have an encounter with an officer, and he has put together a walking group for his younger child.

While Huff and his children are white, his kids attend diverse schools with many immigrant families, he says, and they've talked about filming any encounters such friends might have with law enforcement.

• "It's not just stuff that you see on the news," Huff says. "This is like, for real, in front of our faces, in front of our eyes, right in our own neighborhoods."

Zoom in: Free DC, a group that campaigns to protect Home Rule, has compiled a back-to-school safety toolkit with tips for assembling safe routes to and from schools and creating a rapid response network in your community, plus resources regarding rights when dealing with law enforcement.

• "Our current moment is one of new uncertainty and threat," the guide reads. "However, overpolicing has been a danger to D.C. communities, particularly communities of color, for decades. What we are experiencing now is not new for many families."

State of play: DCPS officials addressed the federal takeover during an information session for parents last week and stressed that they don't believe it will greatly affect schools.

• School leaders are aware that student records are protected and can be shared only via parental consent or a court order, chancellor Lewis Ferebee said during the info session.
• Law enforcement can take action on school grounds only with a warrant or court order, Ferebee said, and the Metropolitan Police Department's school resource officers aren't working with immigration or customs enforcement.

Ferebee shared a few best practices for students headed to school, like always walking in groups or with an adult and not walking with headphones or while looking at a phone.

DCPS will continue to carry out its Safe Passage program, which helps students get to school safely, and will also create safety squads at all schools this year to monitor students' arrival and departure, Patrick Ashley, deputy chancellor of finance and operations, said during the info session.

• "Our principals have been advised to alert the district's legal team for immediate assistance and support," a DCPS spokesperson tells Axios.
• "DCPS will continue to share safety guidance and reminders with students as they commute to and from their school campuses [this] week and beyond."

Between the lines: Some DC State Board of Education representatives want D.C. to help kids 15 and up get REAL IDs so they can show federal agents they're a minor if they're stopped.

The other side: Not all parents are fearful. Some see the increased federal presence as a way to keep their kids and streets safer.

• "To me, it actually makes the street more safe, because a lot of the crime that goes on, especially over there in Southwest and Southeast, is happening while the kids are going to school or they're coming out of school," a parent of D.C. public school children told CNN.
• "If the police is around, there won't be so much of the gun violence."

Zoom out: It's not just schools — a D.C. daycare partially closed last week after staffers got scared to come into work when they heard federal agents were nearby, reports WTOP. Parents were asked to keep their kids home if they could.

• And some local daycares have stopped taking the kids out on walks because of the enhanced federal presence.