Two Chautauqua County schools are watching events — locally and nationally — when it comes to the impact on its student population.

Both the Dunkirk City Schools and Jamestown Public Schools District are offering information and advice regarding what to do if families are approached about their immigration status. In both districts, letters were released Thursday to parents in the district after The Post-Journal and OBSERVER reported federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents had been active in Dunkirk.

ICE’s daily arrests, which averaged 311 in the year ending Sept. 30, stayed fairly steady in the first days after President Donald Trump took office, then spiked dramatically Sunday to 956 and Monday to 1,179, according to the Associated Press. If sustained, those numbers would mark the highest daily average since ICE began keeping records.

“Recent events have raised concerns among families regarding the safety and privacy of their children,” Dunkirk school Superintendent Michael Mansfield wrote in a memo to the school community. “Please be assured that the Dunkirk City School District is committed to ensuring the safety and dignity of all students, including immigrant families. We want every child to feel welcome, supported and safe when they come to school.”

Trump also has lifted longtime guidelines that restricted ICE from operating at “sensitive locations” such as schools, churches or hospitals. That decision has worried many migrants and advocates who fear children will be traumatized by seeing their parents arrested in the drop-off line at school or that migrants needing medical care won’t go to the hospital for fear of arrest.

Late Tuesday, Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone said he learned that federal investigation officers were in the city on Monday and Tuesday but had no further information.

Dr. Kevin Whitaker, Jamestown Public Schools superintendent, said after Tuesday’s school board meeting that there has been no ICE contact with the Jamestown Public Schools District. Whitaker said he has been in contact with other school superintendents in the county and none he has talked to have had any contact with ICE officials either.

“There’s been no one who has showed up looking for kids,” Whitaker said. “No one has made any phone calls or other contacts.”

Despite Trump’s change of sensitive location guidelines, Whitaker said there are still limits that govern what law enforcement can do in schools, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He said a judicial subpoena is required for federal, state or local law enforcement to come into school to arrest, question or detain a student unless officers are following a student into a school building after witnessing a crime. The Federal Education Right To Privacy Act doesn’t allow law enforcement to see student records without a judicial subpoena.

“So a judge would have had to hear the case and issue very specific subpoena instructions that we would follow,” Whitaker said. “The reason for that is that in school, the adults are given what’s called in loco parentis responsibility for kids, which means, essentially, for the time being, they’re acting as a in a parental role. It’s not a full parental right, however, so we, under in loco parentis, are not allowed to grant access to police to their children. So that’s why those rules exist.”

Despite those rules, on Thursday Jamestown Public Schools officials sent a memo through Talking Points, an app used to send messages to district parents, about the change in federal policy.

“Recently, there has been widespread local and national coverage surrounding immigration status in the United States that could potentially impact public education, our students, families, faculty, and staff,” the letter states. “We recognize that these uncertain times have sparked feelings of fear and apprehension among some of our students, families, and staff. It is important for us, as a district, to acknowledge these concerns while reinforcing our unwavering commitment to providing a safe and inclusive environment for every student. We also remain steadfast in our statutory and constitutional duty to educate all students, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or immigration status.”

The letter states those questioned about their immigration status should know they have the right to stay silent and to not answer questions about their immigration or citizenship status. They should also politely ask if they are free to leave. If allowed to leave the district advises walking away calmly. If told they have to stay, the district said immigrants can say they are choosing to remain silent and will only speak with a lawyer present. The district also said people can refuse a search.

Those being questioned, according to the district, should remain calm and respectful, exercise their right to remain silent and request legal representation. Those being questioned should avoid sharing details about where they were born, their citizenship status or how they entered the country and should not provide false information or fake documents.

What has not changed, Matt Elliston, director of ICE’s Baltimore field office, told the Associated Press is that ICE is conducting targeted operations. ICE has a list of people they’re going after as opposed to indiscriminately going to a workplace or apartment building looking for people in the country illegally.

“I really hate the word ‘raids’ because it gives people the wrong impression, as if we’re just arbitrarily going door to door and saying, ‘Show us your papers,'” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”