Rodriguez is among educators trained to accompany immigrant students and their families to immigration appointments and court hearings. The San Francisco Unified School District’s RiseSF office, nonprofit Faith in Action and the teachers’ union run the program, which operates at 20 schools.

Since January, educators have accompanied 137 students and family members. None had been arrested during an accompanied appointment as of the program’s latest count. The union also pays for substitute teachers when educators take time away from school to help.

The support addresses a difficult choice for families: immigration appointments can carry a risk of arrest, while missing a hearing or required appointment can expose someone to a deportation order. Volunteers and activists stationed near the federal building at 630 Sansome St. say people are arrested there regularly.

Carolina, whose name has been changed, had two appointments that day. Rodriguez waited outside while she went into the federal building for the first one, checking in with her by text. “My freedom has been stolen,” she said as she entered.

Her first appointment went smoothly. She then spoke with her 6-year-old son by phone before heading to a second check-in at the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program on Tehama Street. That program is run by BI Incorporated, a private contractor that provides monitoring equipment and other services for people under immigration supervision.

At least 50 immigrant families in San Francisco have faced appointments or hearings with the help of public school staff, according to the program’s organizers. The educators are trained to contact a rapid-response hotline if someone is arrested, so a lawyer can be sought to file a habeas petition asking for their release.

School social worker Jenny Tseng said one family she helped nearly missed a court hearing. Two middle-school sisters did not arrive at school as planned, so Tseng, two counselors and a volunteer located their mother at a cafe and brought the girls to court. The judge rescheduled the case. Had the sisters not appeared, they could have been ordered removed, Tseng said.

At International High School, teacher Antoine Lagarde helped connect two students with support for their older sister, a Peruvian mother of two who feared arrest at a hearing. She went to court with educators, a school-contracted attorney, a priest and Faith in Action’s co-director, Matt Alexander. The hearing was rescheduled for next year.

The program also connects families with school resources. After Carolina completed both appointments, Rodriguez helped her log into a district app to check her children’s grades and contact their teachers. He said he has accompanied about 10 parents from his school and identified at least 30 families there who need help connecting with immigration resources.

For educators involved, the accompaniment is both practical support and a way to build trust with families whose children may be carrying the stress of immigration proceedings into school. “We are not shying away from this,” Rodriguez said.