Nadja Tiktinsky is a Maine educator and writer.

As ICE agents surged into Maine, Portlanders rallied together to voice dissent, protest in subzero temperatures and provide legal counsel, food, diapers and other necessities to at-risk neighbors.

Many leading this charge are teachers, who are no strangers to the devotion and creative thinking it takes to meet changing community needs. Teachers are especially well poised to help children who are affected by the presence of ICE in Portland, as they already hold status as trusted adults in the lives of their students. 

However, teacher action is bound by the policies of their school administrations. As Maine schools adapt to navigate this “new normal” for their communities, administrators should treat this crisis like the emergency it is, by allowing teachers to use their platforms, expertise and relationships with students to provide all the support they can. 

Some school administrators have been proactive and clear in their leadership. At one Portland-area middle school, administration encouraged teachers to chaperone local bus stops during student drop-off and pick-up times, and recommended that teachers wear staff lanyards while volunteering outside of school. This is extremely important. When activists can visibly identify themselves as teachers, they signal to families that they are safe, trusted adults who are there to help. This helps their support efforts to be wider-reaching and more effective.

At a Portland-area preschool, the administration has given only one directive: that teachers not let ICE inside the building. The school has not provided any guidelines for supporting families, though a high percentage of students at this school are currently staying home. Some teachers have been communicating with sheltering families, delivering food and coordinating rides to school, but they are acting individually. School administration has failed to either endorse teacher activism or create a set of guidelines for support efforts.

At a neighboring high school, administrators have been almost noncommunicative about ICE and have implied that teachers there should do the same. The school has an action plan in the event that ICE arrives on campus, but has not shared that plan with teachers.

When a former student of this school was recently detained, administration sent an email reminding teachers to “remain professional,” vague wording that staff took as a directive to not discuss it with students.

This is ludicrous. Ignoring the situation not only signifies a failure to meet the emotional needs of a student body that is sad and scared for their classmate, but also exacerbates those difficult emotions by creating a feeling of isolation for students.

The lack of direction from administration has also contributed to a lack of empathy among students. There have been bullying incidents at the school where students of color have been told “You’re next,” mocking their risk for ICE detention.

In every single school, teachers are willing to help. In fact, they are desperate to. If administrators lifted restrictions and offered structural support in all Maine schools, teachers could mobilize to the best of their abilities, providing emotional, physical and academic aid to their students and guiding them through this crisis to great effect.

Structure and leadership are the central work of school administration. Done well, these facilitate teachers’ work, which is to support students’ well-being. The changing landscape of need for our students during the ICE invasion of Maine demands that schools adapt to meet those needs.

Though teachers are the people best poised to directly help their students, they are only able to be effective in their efforts to do so if their school administration is supportive. Administrators: don’t tie the hands of your teachers. Instead, help to make them better tools.