A rumor circulating on social media that a meeting was held at Neil Armstrong Middle School informing the school that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be at the school on Tuesday, Oct. 21 is false, the school's interim principal said Monday evening.
"It has come to our attention that a social media message is circulating that says, "There was a meeting at Neil Armstrong informing everyone that ICE would be at school tomorrow, October 21." That is NOT true," said Neil Armstrong Middle School (NAMS) Interim Principal Terry McElligott. "There was no meeting. We do not anticipate ICE tomorrow. We do not know who started this rumor," she said.
She said student safety would continue to be the school's "number one priority," and that if there were a concern, NAMS families would hear directly from him.
"Again, this is a rumor. I know this has caused stress in our school community, and we are sorry," she said
She thanked staff and parents who notified school officials of the rumor.
"By working together, we will support each other through this difficult time," she said.
Forest Grove School District Superintendent Dr. Suzanne West had previously addressed the presence of ICE in the district's service territory in an Oct. 16 letter to families.
This story has been updated to correctly pronoun the principal. News in the Grove regrets the error.
