Boy signs ‘I want to go back to school’ on call with SPI On March 12, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond held a meeting to check on the well-being of Joseph Londono Rodriguez, a 6-year-old Deaf student with disabilities who attended the California School for the Deaf, Fremont, and was detained and deported earlier this month under false pretenses.

Joseph’s mother, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, is an asylum seeker fleeing domestic violence and was told to bring her children to a routine immigration check-in to have new photos taken. Instead, the family was immediately detained at the check-in and deported. They were denied access to Joseph’s assistive devices and denied access to their attorney, who was given false information about their whereabouts by authorities, according to the California Department of Education.

Thurmond met virtually with Joseph, his mother, and their attorney, as well as in person with Joseph’s teacher and CSDF staff. Thurmond was able to ask Joseph and his mother about how they were doing, and Joseph was able to have a conversation with his teacher about missing school and about classmates who miss him, too. When asked how he was feeling, Joseph said, “I want to go back to school.”

“In speaking with his family today, Joseph made it very clear what he wants. He talked with one of his teachers, which lifted his spirits, but his situation is concerning. Joseph does not understand Spanish, his family’s home language, and he received instruction in ASL and English at CSDF. Without access to further ASL-English instruction or his Deaf community, Joseph is at risk of language deprivation, which can have serious impacts on a child’s development and health,” Thurmond said, in a news release. “We must make this right. I am actively working with members of Congress to pursue every available avenue to return Joseph to his school community and bring his family back to California. I encourage everyone to contact their elected officials at the local, state, and national level to advocate for this family’s safe return.”

Thurmond and attorney for the family Nikolas De Bremaeker provided an update on Joseph’s condition during a news event.

“Without the proper care, Joseph is at risk not only because of his emotional and mental development, but to his physical health due to the potential of infection from lack of proper medical care [of his cochlear implant], which could jeopardize his life,” De Bremaeker said.

Survey: Just over half of students feel safe at school Just more than half of students say they feel safe at school according to a national survey of K-12 students.

A recent report from YouthTruth analyzed responses from the survey of more than 190,000 students and more than 19,000 educators from across the country during the 2024-25 school year.

The responses reveal the spaces where students feel most safe (the classroom) and least safe (on school buses). Bathrooms are another space with major safety concerns, as just 50 percent of students report feeling safe there.

“Bathroom safety concerns are especially pronounced for boys,” according to the report. “Concerns are even greater among LGBTQ+ boys and young men, who report the lowest sense of safety of any student group in these spaces: only 40 percent say they feel safe and one-third disagree or strongly disagree that they feel safe in this everyday space.”

The report also delves into the “safety anxiety” that is common among middle and secondary school students and the student groups who “carry a heavier emotional burden than others.” Secondary student groups who have the highest rates of safety anxiety are Black or African-American (26 percent), American Indian, Alaska Native or Indigenous (24 percent) and Hispanic/Latinx (20 percent), higher than rates for their White (14 percent) and Asian/Asian American (16 percent) peers. English language learners and LGBTQ+ students also have higher rates of safety worries.

The survey also asked staff about their perceptions of safety at school. One notable finding: Students generally perceive more risks than adults. Student perceptions are likely shaped by what they see on campus, which staff may not see. According to the report: “Secondary students report witnessing physical fights significantly more often than staff. In high school, 18 percent of students say they see fights somewhat or very often — twice the rate of staff (9 percent).”

The report also includes lessons from school leaders impacted by California wildfires and a discussion and reflection guide with 10 questions administrators should ask themselves about school safety.

Read the full report at https://youthtruth.org/resources/schoolsafety-report-2026.