Teacher on administrative leave over social media post allegedly to help ICE

    BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore County teacher is on administrative leave after allegedly posting controversial tweets on social media threatening to expose his students who attended an immigration justice rally.

Advocates are calling on the school district to do more to protect its students and families.

"Like, how did we get to a moment where someone thinks it's OK to make these racist, hateful comments," said Crisaly De Los Santos, the director of CASA Baltimore/Central Maryland. "That is totally just not OK and I really hope that they take action and hold this teacher accountable."

The Overlea High School teacher allegedly tweeted at U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about his students who were excused to attend a rally.

Students demanding action

Students who were outraged by the alleged tweets staged a protest during lunch hours on Friday to demand accountability.

"Excited to see student leaders stepping up right and demanding action," De Los Santos said.

Students, along with CASA, are prepared to voice their demands at a Baltimore County school board meeting Tuesday night to try to keep immigrant students safe.

"I'm here today to ask for stronger protection for immigrants and students like me," student Helen Rodriguez said.

"I think we need to have something in place where there is guidance for this is what happens, like if you can not reach this person, having a basic understanding of what a warrant looks like," De Los Santos said.

BCPS immigration guidelines

Baltimore County Public Schools has issued guidance on its website with resources and tools for immigrant students and parents to utilize, including parents identifying a standby guardian to care for their child if they are detained or reported by way of a Maryland judiciary form.

"We are making sure our staff is well versed in what the expectations are from the state level," Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers said. "Our primary role is to make sure we are educating students."

"The community will not be able to engage if they don't feel safe and comfortable knowing that the leadership is doing what they need to do to keep them safe," De Los Santos said.