The Winooski school district, which serves about 800 students in a 1.5-square-mile community on the outskirts of Burlington, is the most diverse in Vermont — a state that consistently ranks among the nation’s whitest. Nearly 60% of its students are people of color, and more than a third are learning English as a second language. The district sits in a federal refugee resettlement area that for more than three decades has accepted hundreds of immigrants annually from Bhutan, Somalia, Bosnia, Syria and other countries.
Chavarria, 37, joined the district in 2023 after working as director of equity and education support systems in another Vermont district. Born in Nicaragua, he said he did not learn English until high school — a background that mirrors many of the students he now serves. He became the public face of the district’s defiance last year when it became the first in Vermont to pass a sanctuary policy formally barring staff from sharing student data with immigration officials and restricting ICE agents’ access to campus without a judicial warrant.
“Wilmer has been a brave voice in a time in our country where that’s being punished,” said Robin Merritt, a parent of three children in the district.
The policy put the district at odds with the Trump administration, which has rescinded a federal policy that had protected students from ICE arrests on school grounds, investigated schools for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and threatened to pull federal funding from districts that do not comply with a ban on DEI programs. Chavarria said he prepared for the possibility of losing the roughly 6% of the district’s budget that comes from federal money.
“When somebody wants us to lose funding, we’re going to lose it anyways,” Chavarria said, according to a report from the Hechinger Report published by the Guardian. “The difference is, did we lose it while bending the knee, or did we lose it while standing up for our values? Either way, the outcome will be the same.”
Chavarria also refused to sign a document that would have certified the district’s compliance with the federal DEI ban.
The superintendent’s own experience with immigration enforcement became personal in 2025, when he was detained for several hours by immigration officials at the Houston airport while returning from visiting family in Nicaragua. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
A more traumatic incident unfolded in November 2025, when a second-grade student in the district was detained with his mother by federal agents. Teachers sent letters to immigration officials and organized a fundraiser for legal fees. Erin Hurley, a multilingual teacher who taught the boy, said detention center officials denied her request to send his schoolwork to him. During phone calls, the mother told Winooski staff that her son was not doing well at the Dilley, Texas, detention center. After seven weeks, and despite having legal representation, the family decided to self-deport.
“I feel so disgusted that our country has come to this,” Hurley said. “These families make our community so much brighter. They contribute to Vermont so much.”
The district’s defiance reached a new intensity in December 2025, when Chavarria decided to raise the Somali flag on school grounds three days after President Trump referred to Somalis as “garbage” in a cabinet meeting, according to the report. A video of the flag went viral on right-wing social media platforms. Staff had to take down the district’s website and social media accounts and unplug school phones because of death threats. Chavarria and his husband stayed at a hotel for a few days after receiving threats.
Despite the onslaught, the district kept the Somali flag flying beside the U.S. and Vermont flags through the following week to show support for Somali students, who make up about 9% of the student population. Chavarria said he believed that if more school leaders publicly pushed back against administration policies, the district would not have been such a large target.
“It does feel like we are alone in an ocean,” he said.
Inside the school this spring, doors between hallways remain locked, requiring staff to let students through sections of the building throughout the day — a visible legacy of the December threats. A table with “Know your rights” and “Conoce tus derechos” banners sits to the side, with documents translated into more than half a dozen languages telling families how to organize paperwork and talk to children about ICE.
In May 2026, after advocacy from Chavarria and others, the Vermont legislature passed a law modeled on Winooski’s policy, requiring all schools in the state to have immigration enforcement protocols on campus. Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, said clear policies like Winooski’s protect not only students but also staff who may not know what immigration agents are allowed to do on school grounds.
“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,” Rodriguez Kmec said.
A 2022 study found that children from families with mixed citizenship status were more likely to earn As and less likely to report problems with teachers and peers if they attended a school with a “safe zone” policy restricting immigration enforcement on campus. Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, who teaches English and history at Winooski High School and was Vermont’s teacher of the year in 2025, said the impact is visible in her classroom.
“When kids feel seen and heard and valued in our district and community, it shows up in the work they’re doing,” MacLeod-Bluver said.
The district’s stance has drawn support from parents and educators, even as it faces continued pressure from federal policy. The Trump administration has decreased the refugee admissions cap from 125,000 in 2025 to 7,500 in 2026, the lowest level since the program’s inception. So far this year, about 50 refugees, all from South Africa, have relocated to Vermont.