LightHouse maintains policies and procedures that follow “Guidance regarding K-12 Schools' obligations to protect students and their information,” issued January 24, 2025 by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In the event any local, state, or federal law enforcement agency comes in person or requests via mail or electronic means information about LightHouse students, or requests to interview any students, LightHouse Executive Director or their designee will:

• Immediately notify the student's or students’ parents or guardians. 
• Allow law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to question or remove a student only when provided with written consent from a parent or guardian, or a valid judicial warrant.
• Share student information with third parties, including ICE, only when provided with written consent from a parent or guardian. 
• Have a clear plan in place for interactions with ICE (see below).
• Provide equal access to education to all students, regardless of immigration status. 

LightHouse's Plan for Interaction with ICE, per the Massachusetts’ Attorney General’s Guidelines:

• For any request for information or to question or remove a student by ICE, LightHouse’s Executive Director or their designee reserves the right to have judicial warrants reviewed for legal validity by a lawyer before complying with such request.
• If ICE agents attempt to physically enter the LightHouse campus or any of its buildings, the following adult staff members have been identified to meet them outside the buildings to address their requests, in this order based on availability at the time of the the attempt: Catherine Gobron, David Lane, Nate Maynard, Isaac Eddy.
  • These staff are instructed to inform ICE agents that they are not authorized to permit entry to the building without a valid judicial warrant or until the Executive Director or their designee can have the judicial warrant reviewed for validity.
  • These staff will also communicate via electronic means or phone call to all other staff inside the building to inform them that ICE is requesting entry to the building.
• Staff remaining inside the building will inform students to remain calm and to be silent if ICE officers enter the building. 
• Staff members in possession of a building master key may provide access to students to the cafe or to the De La Luz Theater building.
• Diana Santiago or David Lane will send a pre-saved automatic emails to 1) all parents, and 2) our contacts at each of our School District partners informing them of ICE agents’ attempt to enter LightHouse.
  
  We do not anticipate needing to enact this protocol. We have no reason to expect a visit from ICE or any other government entities. We share this information with our families and community at large to let you know that we have a clear plan in place to protect our students and their information if necessary, though this is highly unlikely. To date we have had no invasive or potentially problematic interactions with any law enforcement or government agencies of any kind, and we do not expect this to change.

Dear LightHouse Community, July 27, 2020

It has been nearly two months since the killing of George Floyd, and the subsequent movement of protests in support of Black lives and against systemic racism continues to reverberate across the United States and around the globe. The legacy of racism is complex, culturally pervasive, brutally violent to Black, indigenous and other people of color, and is far from being truly reckoned with.

To move towards racial equity, we believe institutions need to prioritize humanity, acknowledge the deeply embedded inequities at every level, create tangible actions, and work to weave the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the very fabric of their organizations. The LightHouse Board of Directors stands in solidarity with and support of the Black Lives Matters movement.

The LightHouse program was conceived, designed, and built on the belief that inequities in our community can be addressed through education. It is clear, however, that equity is only possible when the systems in which we live, learn, and work are equitable. We know that in the United States our education system and law enforcement are systemically racist. The United States was founded on the oppression of and a deep systemic violence towards Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. To our Black and non black people of color students, families, staff and community: we see you and we acknowledge the reality of the injustice you face.

To our Black and non black people of color students, families, staff and community: we see you and we acknowledge the reality of the injustice you face. We recognize that this movement is the culmination of a history of deeply tragic and traumatic moments and we affirm the rage over the loss of Black lives.

We believe that for an organization to be truly anti-racist, the work of equity must reverberate through every level of vision and operations.

We are committed to:

• Continuing to serve a diverse student body and making a LightHouse education accessible to students of all economic backgrounds.
• Defining clearly and explicitly what racial diversity and equity means with regard to Board membership at LightHouse and having a Board that is representative of the diversity of the community we serve.
• Soliciting input from stakeholders including students, parents, staff, and community members with the aim of drafting formal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion statement for LightHouse that will guide the work of the board moving forward.
• Setting explicit goals and metrics by which we can measure and share our practices of anti-racism.
• Offering resources about race and racial justice to our board members and our community.
• Keeping the racial and/or ethnic diversity of full time and adjunct staff and mentors at LightHouse representative of the community.
• Create open forums to encourage students, families, staff, and board to discuss racial equity issues to provide insight and improve our ability to work together as a learning community
• Engaging staff participation and voices at Board meetings to learn about equity and justice from their work with students and families.
• Documenting our work towards equity so that we may share the lessons and outcomes with other boards and organizations.