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District leaders say immigration policy changes under the Trump administration and resulting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities on or around school grounds have had impacts that stretch from the classroom to district offices. In some communities, this has resulted in pivots to online learning, school lockdowns, loss of instructional time and safety concerns for both students and staff. 

We took a deep dive into what superintendents have experienced in impacted communities from their own points of view.

Buy-in and optimism at SXSW EDU

• Building trust and fostering alignment in K-12 decision-making among people with opposing political viewpoints is possible but requires a student-centric focus, persistence and inclusive coalition building, a bipartisan group of state education leaders said during a March 10 panel discussion at SXSW EDU in Austin, Texas. As the midterm election season ramps up — with 36 governor races and thousands of state legislative contests ahead — and with the federal education landscape increasingly polarized, local and state education leaders are looking for ways to bridge divides and secure long-term buy-in for K-12 decisions, panelists said.
• Two nonprofit leaders speaking during another March 10 session at the conference pointed to bold approaches, promising practices and gains in achievement that they said are fueling their optimism for the current and future state of education. “I often feel like I’m operating as a chief evangelist officer for the field,” said Frances Messano, CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund, a philanthropy that works to transform education.

Enrollment woes persist

• New Orleans’ birthrate has declined steadily since Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, reaching a record-low in 2024 and fueling ongoing concerns over the city’s public school enrollment, according to an analysis by nonprofit New Schools for New Orleans. While enrollment in NOLA Public Schools has decreased from 49,071 to 44,808 students between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years, New Schools for New Orleans projects that figure will drop another 8.6% — or roughly 4,250 students —  by the 2029-30 school year.
• Fort Bend Independent School District’s board of trustees approved a plan on March 9 to close or consolidate seven elementary schools as the Texas district tackles an expected budget deficit of $56.4 million — driven by recent enrollment declines — for the 2026-27 school year. In total, Fort Bend ISD had 78,169 students enrolled this school year, a slight increase since October 2019 when the district’s enrollment was 77,725. However, the district expects enrollment to dip to 77,732 in the 2026-27 school year.