Letter to Mayor Bowser from Parents, Guardians, and Staff at Dorothy I. Height Elementary School

Date: October 2, 2025

To: The Honorable Muriel E. Bowser, Mayor of Washington, DC
From: Parents, Guardians, and Staff of Dorothy I. Height Elementary School 

Dear Mayor Bowser,

We are writing as parents, guardians, and teachers of students at Dorothy I. Height Elementary School (DHES) regarding the increase in incidents involving Metropolitan Police Department officers and federal immigration enforcement officials on or near DC school campuses.

As caregivers of school-age children, we know that students must feel safe in order to learn effectively. Outside of their family members, teachers and police officers are the adults young children most often associate with safety. Because of this, it is critical that representatives of our community, like school staff and the MPD, cultivate trust with students and their families. DHES has welcomed MPD officers to participate in school events on a number of occasions to foster these trusting relationships. The police band, Side by Side, has performed at our annual Back to School Jam. On Field Day, representatives of the Office of Unified Communications have modeled for our students how to call 911 in an emergency.

However, the recent increase in incidents involving the MPD and federal immigration enforcement officers - such as the one that took place during student dismissal on September 25, 2025 outside DC Bilingual Public Charter School - creates tension between school communities and the police force, suppresses school attendance, and corrodes trust in law enforcement.[a][b]

Put simply, MPD presence in and around schools should fulfill law enforcement’s oath to serve and protect, not to collaborate on federal immigration initiatives at the expense of our local goals. These initiatives target our friends and neighbors and are carried out with flagrant disregard for the trauma they cause to our students and staff.

We stand in solidarity with our fellow DC residents in every school community that has unwillingly served as the backdrop for these distressing events, especially children, families, and staff at schools such as DC Bilingual, Bancroft Elementary School, and Columbia Heights Educational Campus.  We are, therefore, calling on you to take immediate steps to restore trust in the MPD by limiting MPD’s role in federal immigration enforcement to the extent allowable by law and reasserting common sense restrictions on police actions in school zones.

Community Opposition

Mayor Bowser, you assured our community on September 10 that "Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does. And with the end of the emergency, it won't be what MPD does in the future."  Yet our observation of law enforcement around the District- including, notably, last Thursday’s incident - directly contradicts this promise.

Despite widespread community opposition—including formal resolutions from Advisory Neighborhood Commissions across the city opposing MPD cooperation with immigration enforcement – we see MPD conducting raids, stops, and patrols jointly with ICE, HSI, and CBP, often near our schools and consistently along routes that are heavily traveled by our students and staff on their way to school.  This represents a departure from DC's long-standing inclusive city values and has induced trauma in our community.  During the incident last Thursday, for example, young students who witnessed the police action were reduced to tears, asking if they too would be "taken away."

The Impact on Our Children and Community in DC

The country's largest teacher’s unions filed a lawsuit last week over the immigration crackdown, saying fear stirred by arrests near campuses has led some children to drop out of school. This is particularly concerning given that one in four kids in DC are already chronically absent from school – which means missing 10 percent or more of the school year.

Our children should be able to focus on their education without carrying fears about enforcement activities in their school communities. They should not have to witness distressing scenes that cause them to worry about their own safety or that of their classmates and neighbors.

The Corrosion of Trust Between MPD and DC School Communities

Police cannot do their work without establishing and maintaining the trust of the communities they serve, and the continuing, highly visible role of MPD in supporting and even leading federal immigration enforcement efforts degrades that trust.

It is increasingly difficult to distinguish between MPD actions upholding DC’s criminal code and its actions as a facilitator of ICE, HSI, and CBP raids on our immigrant neighbors. That confusion is corroding our relationship with the police who protect our children.  A fast-food worker told WUSA9 reporters on August 20 that she would no longer report crimes to the MPD, and we see similar dynamics of broken trust in our own school community.  In this context, we are particularly disturbed by MPD officers’ comments at DC Bilingual to bystanders and school staff that people who were alarmed by the officers’ actions: “don’t call 911 next time.”

Our Request for Leadership and Action

Mayor Bowser, you have the power and authority to reestablish common-sense policies regarding law enforcement that protect our children, enhance the learning environment, maintain a clear distinction between law enforcement and federal immigration policy, and rebuild the trust between school communities and the MPD.  We respectfully ask that you do so.

We respectfully request:

• Clear communication about MPD's role in the aforementioned incident
• A response to the concerns raised by the DC Bilingual community in the CEO’s letter to you, in response to the incident
• Open and frank communication regarding the MPD’s continuing role in federal immigration enforcement actions, and the establishment of a clear separation between MPD’s law enforcement role and that of federal immigration agencies in the District, to the extent allowable by law
• Reestablishment of policies that protect and prioritize schools as safe spaces for all children and caregivers
• Review of officer conduct during the incident and any other incidents in which residents have been threatened or traumatized for asserting their constitutional rights
• Community dialogue to address the concerns and questions raised
   

We ask for your attention to these concerns and look forward to your prompt response.

In solidarity and with respect,

The Undersigned

Parents, Guardians, and Staff of Dorothy I. Height Elementary School

Cc:

Chief Pamela Smith, Metropolitan Police Department

Chairman Phil Mendelson, DC City Council

At-large Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie, DC City Council

At-large Councilmember Anita Bonds, DC City Council

At-large Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr., DC City Council

At-large Councilmember Christina Henderson, DC City Council

Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, DC City Council

Councilmember Brooke Pinto, DC City Council

Councilmember Matthew Frumin, DC City Council

Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, DC City Council

Councilmember Zachary Parker, DC City Council

Councilmember Charles Allen, DC City Council

Councilmember Wendell Felder, DC City Council

Councilmember Trayon White, Sr., DC City Council

Paul Kihn, Deputy Mayor for Education, District of Columbia

Clara Botsten, Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education, District of Columbia