WINOOSKI, VERMONT — In May 2026, the Vermont legislature passed a law requiring all schools in the state to adopt immigration enforcement protocols modeled after the Winooski school district’s sanctuary policy. The Winooski district, located in a 1.5-square-mile community outside Burlington and recognized as the most diverse school district in Vermont, implemented its sanctuary policy in 2025 to protect students from immigration enforcement while on school grounds.

The Winooski policy prohibits staff from sharing student data with immigration officials and restricts immigration agents’ access to campus without a signed judicial warrant. The district’s actions followed federal policy shifts during the second Trump administration, which rescinded protections for students on school grounds from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests and encouraged states to challenge a Supreme Court decision affirming undocumented students’ right to public education.

Wilmer Chavarria, superintendent of the Winooski school district, refused to sign a Trump administration document requiring compliance with a federal ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools. Chavarria, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Nicaragua who did not learn English until high school, was detained for several hours by immigration officials at Houston airport in 2025 while returning from visiting family in Nicaragua.

After a video of a student raising the Somali flag outside Winooski High School went viral on social media in early December 2025, the district received racist messages and phone calls. Staff temporarily took down the district’s website and social media accounts and unplugged school phones due to death threats. Chavarria had ordered the Somali flag raised on December 5, 2025, to reassure immigrant families; it remained flying beside the U.S. and Vermont flags for a week. Chavarria and his husband stayed at a hotel for several days following the threats.

“When somebody wants us to lose funding, we’re going to lose it anyways. The difference is, did we lose it while bending the knee, or did we lose it while standing up for our values?” Chavarria said. “It does feel like we are alone in an ocean,” he said.

Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, a teacher at Winooski High School and Vermont’s teacher of the year in 2025, said, “I really see the impact in the classroom. When kids feel seen and heard and valued in our district and community, it shows up in the work they’re doing.” Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, said, “You want to be able to show that you support all families, including immigrant families, that they ideally should participate and not be afraid of coming to school.”