‘Where Are My Friends?’ Teachers Say Operation Charlotte’s Web Rattled Students

Early last Monday morning, Talia Duniec and her husband, Carlos, were dropping their child off at Charlotte’s Eastway Middle School when they spotted Border Patrol officers in the cemetery across the street. It was about 15 minutes before the first bell rang.

The couple, who had attended a Siembra NC training on how to alert neighbors to potential immigration enforcement activity, began blowing whistles and shouting “La migra, la migra” to warn approaching students. They also recorded what they described as reckless driving by the agents through the 15-mile-an-hour school zone, and they decided to follow one of the black SUVs.

“They drove through like the presence of our children did not matter,” Talia said. Carlos added that the agents made obscene gestures toward them as they followed the vehicle away from the school.

The Duniecs both grew up in Charlotte and now have an 11-year-old daughter at Eastway Middle, where more than half of the students are Latino. Carlos is a U.S. citizen whose mother immigrated from El Salvador. All last week, they joined other parents in informal “safety patrols,” walking the streets near the school and trying to offer a reassuring presence—a small attempt to reclaim a sense of security. 

“My child is okay, but she’s only a stone’s throw from being one of these children,” Talia told The Assembly.

Since the launch of what U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” the presence of immigration enforcement agents has rippled across neighborhoods, campuses, and after-school programs. Last Monday, more than 30,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg students—roughly 21 percent of the district—didn’t show up to school. This is triple the typical rate of absence. 

When Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) emailed families and faculty that evening, they tried to strike a balance between reassurance and routine. No federal agents were on campus, they wrote, and agents couldn’t enter private areas or access staff and students without a warrant. The email also said, in bold letters, that “students were expected to attend school” and that CMS would operate on a normal, in-person schedule. 

For many parents and teachers, the message fell short. Nothing felt normal.

In interviews with Charlotte residents over the last week, many were upset at the way CBP’s operation disrupted the lives of children, regardless of their immigration status. As students staged walkouts at many schools, parents, neighbors, and teachers scrambled to organize food drives, patrol bus stops, and make home visits to families who were often too afraid to open the door. 

But many were also frustrated with how the school system handled the traumatic week. Teachers say CMS provided little guidance on how they should respond to their students’ trauma. The system didn’t excuse absences if students stayed home out of fear for their safety, and CMS didn’t allow remote learning, though system leaders told teachers on November 16 they would consider it “if an emergency situation on any of our campuses does arise.”

At a school board meeting Tuesday night, the tension was clear.

Tiffany Newkirk, a teacher at Pinewood Elementary, said her students kept asking, “Where are my friends? Are they okay?” She said didn’t know how to  answer them.

“There has been no clear guidance, no language, and no support for how I should respond,” Newkirk said. “I’m not asking CMS to take a political position. I’m asking them to take a human one.”

Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill called the week difficult and said no member of the community had been untouched. Despite widespread requests for remote learning, the board decided that keeping students in the classroom was the best option. 

“Going remote may address one concern, but there are multiple unintended consequences,” Hill said. 

She explained that thousands of students could lose access to meals and in-person support from teachers, counselors, and social workers. Remote learning could also disrupt families who rely on public schools so the adults can go to work. 

The Assembly asked CMS how it is supporting teachers and families and responding to student absences due to Border Patrol activity. 

Sheri Costa, the district’s director of board communications, said in a statement Monday evening that CMS was “navigating unprecedented times” after a January federal policy change eased restrictions on immigration enforcement in schools. The district, she said, has repeatedly briefed principals and staff through trainings, policies, webinars, and written guidance. The statement did not address attendance challenges.

Academic Disruption

Newkirk asked the board for three things: clear, compassionate guidance for teachers; trauma-informed resources that principals can share with families; and acknowledgement from the top that last week was not business as usual. 

Under North Carolina law, too many unexcused absences can trigger legal consequences. Under CMS policy, once a student reaches 10 unexcused absences, the principal or attendance official sends a letter stating that the student is in violation of state law, that the family could face prosecution, and that the Department of Social Services will be notified. 

The state law does give districts and principals room to excuse absences for “unavoidable cause,” but how that plays out varies widely. Some teachers have said their principals are using that flexibility to support families; others say their schools have just referred back to CMS policies. 

The school system excuses absences for illness, medical appointments, a death in the family, religious observance, or approved education leave with a note from a parent. Anything else is considered unexcused. 

Some teachers and parents at the school board meeting urged the district to offer flexibility so that students who felt unsafe last week could continue their education from home. 

Speakers made clear that their worry isn’t about what’s going on inside the school—it’s most often about getting there. Even children who are in the country legally may have avoided leaving home for fear of putting family members at risk.

It’s not clear why CMS didn’t offer hybrid learning options or give schools flexibility to excuse absences. 

After Border Patrol agents signaled they were moving into Wake County on Tuesday, nearly 20,000 students—more than 10 percent of the district—stayed home. Superintendent Robert Taylor urged parents to reach out to teachers about any absences, including when a child stays home because they’re scared, and to share classwork so students don’t fall behind.

Colin Hickey, an English literature professor at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte—which partners with CMS through programs like Middle College and Early College—said the campus felt like a ghost town last week. He said his department let students attend remotely or complete alternative assignments, including younger students.

“I’ve had students explicitly say they’re not coming because of ICE presence in their neighborhoods,” Hickey said. “Normally, we get vague instructions or none at all, so even a little guidance now is astronomical.”

Lessons from Chicago  

Local officials said last week that Operation Charlotte’s Web is over, though Homeland Security officials disputed that. But a recent study from Brown University found that absences tend to spike when fear does—not just when raids happen.

Researchers analyzed daily attendance data from Connecticut and Rhode Island and found that after periods of heightened national immigration rhetoric, measured by Google search for “ICE,” absences of among students learning English rose by 4%. Though the study didn’t follow long-term student outcomes, it points to decades of evidence that even a few missed days can put students off the path to graduation. 

Researchers also found that even U.S. citizen children skip school due to fear of immigration enforcement, especially if they have undocumented family members. 

They recommend that schools communicate early in multiple languages that schools are safe and that fear-related absences will be excused, offer remote flexible learning options, train staff to respond supportively, protect families from punitive attendance policies, and partner with local immigrant-rights groups to provide guidance and research. 

Rebecca Costas, who has taught in the district for 17 years, the last five working with multilingual learners at East Mecklenburg High School, said only about four out of 20 students came to her classes last week. Most received unexcused absences.

“It’s not just our undocumented students,” she said. “If you look like someone that they think is undocumented, you are at risk right now.” 

At Tuesday’s board meeting, she talked about the disconnect between the deep fear in immigrant communities and the district’s response. She pointed to a two-minute video sent to families and staff featuring Tom Miner, the assistant communications officer. The district didn’t provide a Spanish option, which Costas thought seemed out of touch.

Costas said after the board meeting, teachers across the district reached out, describing a sense of abandonment and uncertainty about how to support their students.

Frieda Ibarra, a school counselor at East Mecklenburg High School, works mainly with Spanish-speaking and multilingual students. She understands their fears—she was undocumented during her high school years in Ohio.

Originally from Mexico City, Ibarra moved between the U.S. and Mexico before settling in Charlotte in 2020. She’s now a U.S. citizen. Her experiences with isolation and limited resources now shape her work. “I got to be that person for students who needed someone to let them know they were welcome,” she said.

Ibarra said CMS’s trauma training in response to the CBP enforcement operation amounted to a 20-minute virtual meeting reviewing a two-page document. Counselors, she said, were given little guidance on how to support students affected by the raids, leaving many staff unprepared to address the fear and anxiety gripping the school community. 

Recently, she tried to distribute red “Know Your Rights” cards to students, but she was told to stop because the materials could be viewed as legal advice—even though she believed they aligned with civics curriculum standards.

“It is very difficult to understand how red cards could be seen as legal advice when they go over basic Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights,” she said, holding up a card for school board members. In Charlotte, the principal serves as first point of contact for distributing non-school materials.  

In their statement on Monday, CMS said community partners and advocacy groups helped distribute red cards to families in August and thanked these organizations for their ongoing support of students outside the classroom.

Ibarra suggested CMS could take a cue from Chicago Public Schools, which in October released a detailed family resource guide to help students and families navigate increased federal enforcement. “Chicago was able to offer clear, actionable support for families, something we haven’t seen here,” she said.

Chicago’s guide urges students to map their routes to school, travel with friends, and keep track of trusted public places they can duck into if they feel unsafe. It highlights a district program that stations trained adults along common school routes and encourages neighborhoods to form “walking school buses.” 

It also reminds families of their basic constitutional rights, noting that federal agents need a warrant signed by a judge to enter a home, and connects them with community organizations offering legal and immigration support. Families are encouraged to put an emergency plan in place, keep essential documents organized, and attend a “Know Your Rights” workshop that the school system and local groups offer throughout the fall. 

In October, Chicago school district leaders launched a command center to monitor reports of immigration enforcement activity. The district has also implemented soft lockdown procedures and made resources available in multiple languages.

Charlotte had seen increased immigration enforcement activity months before “Charlotte’s Web.” The last week has only added to the uncertainty and fear. For many families, it felt like a warning of what lies ahead. 

Carlos and Talia Duniec are eager to share what they have learned. Border Patrol agents reportedly plan to launch a similar operation in New Orleans next, so the Duniecs launched a Reddit page to share information. The first link on the page: a form to email the local school board.

Correction: This story originally said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said federal agents couldn’t enter campuses without a warrant. The email said they “cannot access staff, students, or private areas without a valid warrant or subpoena.”

Whitney Clegg is an investigative reporter and producer. She has previously worked for WBTV, Reveal, ProPublica, and CNN’s investigative unit, as well as worked on books on Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump, and Turning Point USA. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the City University of New York.