WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — The West Bridgewater School Committee voted 2-1 on Monday to support a statewide resolution that would designate public schools as "safe zones" from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, over the objection of the member who will cast the town's vote at the conference.

The resolution, submitted by the New Bedford School Committee, is one of several the Massachusetts Association of School Committees will take up at its conference this week. A member explained during the Nov. 2 meeting that passing a resolution at the assembly does not make it law but sets the association's official position for lobbying the Legislature. With two members absent, the three members present voted on each resolution to guide the town's delegate.

The delegate, who opposed the measure, said it "treats families who are having legal issues that belong to one demographic differently from families who might be having other legal issues." The member compared it with how schools handle students who vape, drink or vandalize school property: "Do we offer know your rights classes for students who are chronically truant?"

The delegate also objected to provisions that would have districts work on "integrating immigration-related content across disciplines" and that would let licensed educators discuss the resolution during class time, calling it "highly inappropriate" for the association to pressure districts on curriculum. "MASC does not represent the interests or the values or the beliefs of anyone in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts," the member said.

Another member supported the resolution, saying the member read it to mean "when the children of any family is at school, they're safe." That member said the "know your rights" trainings would help families new to the country, and noted the resolution calls for policies consistent with guidance from the Massachusetts attorney general. "School is not a place that anyone should be afraid that they'd be taken away for any reason," the member said.

The third member agreed the second page of the resolution "needs to be looked at" but said the overall theme was acceptable. "I would vote for it just because I don't want ICE coming into the school," the member said.

Members noted the committee had already adopted a policy this fall in line with the state's Protect Act. After the vote, a district official said the schools follow the district attorney's guidance and that a judicial warrant "takes precedent over everything," on the advice of legal counsel.

The committee voted 3-0 to support resolutions seeking representation for vocational technical schools on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Massachusetts School Building Authority board.