Contra Costa County Parents Demand Pause On Spanish Cut: Report

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Parents crowded a board meeting Tuesday night in the Mount Diablo Unified School District, urging trustees to delay plans to phase out a two-way Spanish immersion program at Bancroft Elementary School and relocate it to another campus.

Families told the school officials that the district should have notified them earlier about the proposed transition, which would move the bilingual program from Walnut Creek to Woodside Elementary School in Concord over the next several years, according to KTVU.

Families presented district officials Wednesday night with a petition signed by roughly 300 people asking them to reconsider the decision, saying the announcement blindsided them.

District officials have said families were notified of the changes in a letter and that enrollment is low in the program, according to reports.

But parents are arguing that the decision was made less than a month before enrollment began. They are that they didn't have enough time to respond and were not adequately informed. “The issue here is that they did not engage us,” one parent said during a rally ahead of the meeting, KTVU reported.

Parents Wednesday said they will challenge the board's decision and are consulting attorneys.

District officials only recently notified families that the two-way Spanish immersion program would begin transitioning next school year, starting with kindergarten. One additional grade level would shift to Woodside each year until the full program is relocated, according to reports.

The program is designed to help students become bilingual by teaching subjects such as math, social studies, and history in both English and Spanish, while also exposing students to Latin American cultures.

But one father of a student said, "Honestly, this decision is making me feel like I and my children don't belong at Bancroft."

Elaine Newland, a Bancroft parent said, “I would implore the board to take a step back, hit pause on this decision, and give us some time to think about a solution that supports everybody,” KTVU reported.

They said current students enrolled in the program at Bancroft could remain at the school as the program phases out, but incoming kindergarten students would need to attend Woodside to participate.

“What’s important is all of our current students can have the option to remain in place. It does not impact our current students,” said Wendi Aghily, the district’s chief of pupil services and special education, KTVU reported.

In a letter to families, the district said the decision followed an evaluation of long-term program sustainability, feeder patterns, and campus enrollment capacity, KTVU reported.

Officials said relocating the program would help preserve its quality and viability, according to KTVU. Some parents said the district has not answered key questions about how the change could affect Bancroft’s student population.

“There are so many questions that still need to be answered, including what will happen to the demographics of Bancroft as a result of this,” said parent Elizabeth Silva, according to KTVU.

Trustees did not confirm whether they would reconsider the plan. If approved, the phase-out would begin in the upcoming school year.