PHOENIX (AP) - The superintendent of one of two Arizona school districts put on notice by a national Latino rights group for asking about citizenship and Social Security numbers on enrollment cards said Monday officials updated the forms and shredded the previous ones.
“I’m happy to comply” with the demand Friday by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund to not include those questions for students and their families, said Charie Wallace, superintendent of the Coolidge Unified School District in Pinal County east of Phoenix.
“I’m not even sure why that was asked on the forms,” said Wallace, who acknowledged they needed updating. She said there was no attempt to discriminate against any student and “we have never turned anyone down.”.
Juan Rodriguez, the MALDEF staff attorney who wrote the letters, said his organization was glad the Coolidge district removed the forms with the questions from its website and “they seem to promptly be correcting the issue.”
St. Johns Unified School District officials in eastern Arizona, target of a similar letter for including a citizenship question on an enrollment form, did not respond Monday to a repeated request for comment.
The 1982 Plyler vs. Doe decision said all children should have access to public education regardless of immigration status.
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