This page is being created in the hope that the parents of the students enrolled in the Healdsburg Unified School District might preserve the Spanish Immersion Program in the Healdsburg Elementary Schools. This historic program has been serving the students in Healdsburg for 20 years and is loved by all the students I have talked with, that have gone thru it. Although this program is not for everyone, I believe it should be preserved for those who want their children to benefit from its continuing existence.
We can keep this program alive by utilizing an exception in the law below. This was found in the California Education Code and is presently the law in California, as Proposition 227 was passed in 1998.
To summarize the law, California Schools are required to teach English by teaching in English to all students who are not fluent English speakers. This law has, for the most part wiped out Spanish Immersion in California Schools. There are few exceptions in the law, but one that we can utilize is the exception for students that are fluent in English. In order to qualify for this exception the law states that the said parents or legal guardian personally visit the school to apply for the waiver and that they there be provided a full description of the educational materials to be used in the different educational program choices and all the educational opportunities available to the child. After doing so, if the parents wish, they can request a waver. Schools in which 20 pupils or more of a given grade level receive a waiver shall be required to offer such a class; otherwise, they must allow the pupils to transfer to a public school in which such a class is offered.
You can find links to printable material at the bottom of
this page.
The full text of the codes is available at the link below.
Article 2. English Language Education .........................
The exception in this law can be found at the link below.
Article 3. Parental Exceptions ................................
To view the entire California Education Codes, go to the link below.
This program is threatened as indicated by the news article shown below.
The Healdsburg Tribune News
School leaders say dual immersion isn't working
School board to discuss changes to program at Feb. 21 meeting
By Matthew Hall, Staff Writer
Administrators plan to end Healdsburg's historic immersion program in the 2007 school year in an effort to meet federal testing requirements. While some
advocates of bilingual education were cautiously optimistic about the decision, parents and teachers say the district has bypassed community input.
Superintendent Bob Carter said that while there hasn't been a formal vote by the school board to end the immersion program, he was given direction by the
board to find an alternative to HUSD's program that would satisfy the No Child Left Behind Act requirements.
He said he found a systemic problem with immersion programs that prohibits children from meeting no child requirements at the early grades. While the board
can make a decision independent of his findings, he said there would be no choice but to eliminate immersion if the district is to meet federal standards.
“The immersion program won't be in existence in kindergarten for 2007,” said Carter.
Teachers and parents associated with the immersion program said they understood no formal action had been taken, but that they felt it was a forgone conclusion.
“It's not totally clear,” said teacher Vikki DuRee, a 22-year veteran of the immersion program. “All directives at this time are towards ending (immersion).
I feel it's an ill-conceived decision.”
DuRee said debate about the future of Spanish language instruction was being censored as teachers were only being consulted on non-immersion alternatives.
“The immersion teachers have suggested some similar but different models,” she said. “But it doesn't seem like the board is willing to consider any program
with a serious Spanish component.”
HUSD School board member Paul Deas said he had mixed emotions. “On the one side of it I'm sad to see the (immersion) program disappear,” he said. “But on
the other, I'm cautiously optimistic that we can continue our rich tradition of providing language instruction to English-only kids and Spanish speakers
at the early grades.”
Deas said the details of the new program have not been established but that the district will be holding a series of meetings with educational professionals,
including teachers and administrators, to finalize what the new curriculum will look like.
He said the test scores for the Spanish-speaking sub-group forced the end of the program. Spanish speaking students in the immersion program tended to
under perform when compared to their counterparts outside the program until sixth grade. However, even when their scores improved to surpass students in
non-immersion classes, the scores were not high enough to satisfy state and federal requirements. “I'd like to emphasize that the immersion program was
a victim of changing times not a failure of the program,” Deas said.
He said HUSD would remain committed to the best interests of students in regards to bilingual education. “The Feds and the state don't care about that,
they just want English only, but we want what is best for the kids,” he said.
Board member Mary Burke said she viewed the change as a chance to improve bilingual instruction in the district. “I view this change as an upgrade rather
than a cancellation of our current program,” she said. “As educators, we now have several curricular choices as to how to implement bilingual instruction
in the early and formative years.”
Kathleen O'Brien has a child in the immersion program with a second due to enroll this year. She said she was upset at the decision to cancel the immersion
program as she felt it was succeeding in teaching students in both languages. “First and foremost, I'm upset because I think it's a good, effective program,”
she said. “I'm just really impressed by the quality of instruction.”
She said parents and teachers who tried to voice support for the program in the weeks leading up to the announcement were told there was no possibility
it would be cancelled. “We were clearly treated as though we were over reacting that there was no threat to the program,” she said.
DuRee agreed that parent's were left out of the loop, especially Spanish speaking households. “This move on the part of the board really disenfranchises
the Spanish speaking families,” she said. “They have not been consulted, not directly informedŠ I hope that at some point the Latino community has some
voice in this matter.”
Carter said teachers had an opportunity to argue for the program but he admitted parents were not directly consulted as part of his research. He said the
debate around immersion programs has been ongoing for several years and that he was confident he understood the parent's perspective from past conversations.
DuRee said abandoning immersion would be a hasty decision as the program has been evolving and she felt test scores would improve this year. Carter acknowledged
that changes have been made to the system but said he did not believe scores would improve enough to retain immersion as an option.
HUSD has offered a dual immersion program for more than 20 years, providing English speakers and English learners the opportunity to become proficient
in English and Spanish.
According to Carter, beginning in the fall of 2007, the dual immersion program will be phased out at the Kindergarten level, replaced with a Spanish enrichment
program for English speakers. Students who are already enrolled in the immersion program will be able to complete the course through their sixth grade
year.
Under the new enrichment program, English speakers will have the opportunity to voluntarily receive Spanish language instruction. The district has said
it is committed to providing bilingual education to any interested English-speaking student. English learners will receive the bulk of their instruction
in English-only but will have a small amount of primary language support.
In a written statement, Carter said “The District's Immersion program is not designed to allow English learners to perform at the academic levels required
by the target of No Child Left Behind for the early primary grade levels.”
The public will have a chance to comment on the future of Spanish language instruction in the district at the Feb. 21 board meeting. The meeting starts
at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers and is open to the public.
DuRee said immersion teachers were devastated by the expected decision but would continue to provide for the children of Healdsburg. “Every teacher will
do everything in their power to provide the best education for their kids, no matter where the board goes with this,” she said. “We are united with that.”
This article was printed in the Healdsburg Tribune. You can view it on their web page by clicking on the link below.
If you go to the links below this point, you may have to find the home page on your own as the links to return (Home) might not work.
If you would like to print a copy of the sample letter I have created, requesting a visit with the school in order that you might meet the requirements for an exception, go to the link below.
If you would like to print a sample letter, plus a description of what we are doing, go to the link below.