FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Sapna Pandya, Many Languages One Voice, 202.641.8207, sapna (at) mlovdc.org
America Calderon, Teaching for Change, 202-588-7207, acalderon (at) teachingforchange.org
“Papers, please?” - As afterschool registration begins, DCPS message about legal status requirements for afterschool programs remains unclear
WHAT: Parents, students, community advocates rally to discuss DCPS legal status requirements for afterschool programs
WHERE: Thomson Elementary School, 1200 L Street NW, Washington DC 20005
WHEN: 9:30 AM, Monday August 20th 2012
CONTACT:
Sapna Pandya, Many Languages One Voice, 202.641.8207, sapna (at) mlovdc.org
America Calderon, Teaching for Change, 202-588-7207, acalderon (at) teachingforchange.org
“Papers, please?” - As afterschool registration begins, DCPS message about legal status requirements for afterschool programs remains unclear
WHAT: Parents, students, community advocates rally to discuss DCPS legal status requirements for afterschool programs
WHERE: Thomson Elementary School, 1200 L Street NW, Washington DC 20005
WHEN: 9:30 AM, Monday August 20th 2012
On July 31st, DCPS sent a letter to DCPS families (only in English, in violation of the DC Language Access Act), stating that “proof of legal status in the United States” is a necessary requirement to participate in afterschool programs. While DCPS sent a note on 8/15/2012 to all afterschool coordinators stating that: "citizenship requirements are currently suspended and OSSE released a similar statement on 8/16/2012, community members remain concerned about this policy for the following reasons:
- While this requirement has been waived this year, community remains concerned that the policy to require legal status requirements could be reinstated next year. This policy has implications for all families in DC, immigrant as well as US-born.
- Parents have not been made aware of the suspension of this policy which occurred two short days before the start of afterschool program registration this Monday.
- While DCPS after-school coordinators and registrars were alerted by e-mail on August 15th that “enforcement of this requirement is suspended,” they really should have been told to absolutely not ask for proof of status under any circumstances, even if they don’t bar that student from registering. The question itself can pose challenges to many District families in participating in this program, not to mention goes against the precedent set by Mayor Gray in refusing to implement Secure Communities (having local police enforce federal immigration policies) in DC.
Parents, students, and community advocates from Centronia, Teaching for Change, Many Languages One Voice (MLOV), Empower DC and others plan to rally on the first day for afterschool registration to discuss DCPS legal status requirements for afterschool programs and monitor the situation to ensure nobody is being asked to provide this documentation.
- While this requirement has been waived this year, community remains concerned that the policy to require legal status requirements could be reinstated next year. This policy has implications for all families in DC, immigrant as well as US-born.
- Parents have not been made aware of the suspension of this policy which occurred two short days before the start of afterschool program registration this Monday.
- While DCPS after-school coordinators and registrars were alerted by e-mail on August 15th that “enforcement of this requirement is suspended,” they really should have been told to absolutely not ask for proof of status under any circumstances, even if they don’t bar that student from registering. The question itself can pose challenges to many District families in participating in this program, not to mention goes against the precedent set by Mayor Gray in refusing to implement Secure Communities (having local police enforce federal immigration policies) in DC.
Parents, students, and community advocates from Centronia, Teaching for Change, Many Languages One Voice (MLOV), Empower DC and others plan to rally on the first day for afterschool registration to discuss DCPS legal status requirements for afterschool programs and monitor the situation to ensure nobody is being asked to provide this documentation.