The Cupertino Courier Trustees approve expansion of language program By Michelle Ku A new controversy surrounding last spring's approved pilot Mandarin language program arose last week when the district went before the Cupertino Union School District Board for extension into next year. It was standing room only at the Jan. 26 meeting as dozens of parents from John Muir Elementary were in attendance to protest the placement of the program at their school. After more than two hours of discussions, which included more than 20 speakers, the board unanimously approved extension of the program. "I'm glad to see so many parents who care about their children's education," said board member Debbie Byron. "But we planted a seedling and I want to nurture it. I would like to see it go forward for next year." The district presented the board with a proposal that not only extended the enrichment program's stay at John Muir through the end of the next academic year, but also expanded it to the first grade while shifting the program from an enrichment to an immersion model. In the enrichment model, students were in the classroom for 205 minutes each day with 20 minutes dedicated for Mandarin instruction. Next year, students will be in an immersion program where teachers will instruct students in both English and Mandarin equally. In this 50/50 program students will be taught by teams of two teachers, an English and a Mandarin teacher. Parents from John Muir presented the school board with a petition, signed by 117 parents, asking the board to table the issue to a later meeting rather than making a decision. Board member Ben Liao said he was unaware that the petition's purpose was to table the proposal, but added that if he had known, he still would have not postponed the matter. "I don't think the superintendent could have waited for us to table the issue until some other time because timing is an issue," Liao said. "It we tabled it, we couldn't approve the program early enough for people to sign up or for the program to move somewhere else." The parents had been unaware the district was asking the board to approve John Muir as the site for the program next year until two days prior to the meeting. "We were purposely being left out of the loop," said John Voisinet, a parent with two children at John Muir. "We didn't know this vote was happening until [the afternoon of Jan. 22] when [principal Maria Wetzel] sent a letter home to the families. Had we known the vote was coming so soon, we would have done some things." The issue of the Mandarin program being placed at John Muir is a sore subject for John Muir parents. They say that the district did not keep them informed about where the program should be nor did they have the opportunity to give input on the decision. They did not know the program would be at John Muir until after classes began in the fall. Steve Koidal, whose wife Jennifer is on the school site council, said there was a May 12 memorandum from district Superintendent Bill Bragg stating the Mandarin program would be placed at John Muir. "[The decision was made] sixteen days prior to the last school site council meeting, but it wasn't brought to their attention," he said. Bragg said the final decisions regarding facilities were made in June. "Before [the final facilities decisions were made] we were unsure about open space at all the schools," he said. "We anticipated that there would be space at John Muir." Parent after parent spoke up against having the program at John Muir. "I don't feel that we were given a choice," said Christine Shepherd, a John Muir parent. "I feel that being on campus now is different than being on campus last year." Some questioned why John Muir was housing the program when the school is already the host to seven classes of another alternative program, an English Language Development center. In the ELD centers, students struggling with English undergo intensive language instruction outside mainstream classes. Once they are proficient in English, they are returned to a standard school setting. With children being bused in for the Mandarin program and for ELD, they feared John Muir would not have room for their children and that the school would change. "We like the idea of a neighborhood school," Voisinet said. The district chose to keep the program at John Muir next year because the school has the space to house the program without affecting the neighborhood children or the children attending ELD, said John Erkman, assistant superintendent for instruction. "I think there might be one other school that has a classroom, but we anticipate that it be used for growth," Erkman said. "The school where we are most certain that there will be two classrooms next year--based on our projections of growth and moving factors--is definitely John Muir." Others questioned the demand for such a program since only 17 students are enrolled in the kindergarten class. Initially 26 students were signed up for the class, but with people moving over the summer and natural attrition, the number dwindled to 17, Erkman said. Typical kindergarten classes have 31 or 32 students divided into two sessions with half the number in the morning and the other half in the afternoon with an hour of overlap. Parents of 92 students have expressed an interest in next year's program, and 31 have visited the class and talked with the administration about it. The district won't have enrollment figures for the Mandarin program until the first week in April when open enrollment is held for the district's alternative programs. Despite the detractors at the meeting, there were a few promoters of the program. "When you do the research and go off to see the program, you'll realize this is awesome. The research is there and it's neat, but when you see it happen to your own child, it's astonishing. " said Kate Apgar, who has a son in the enrichment program. "When I heard my son go up to another child and say let's go play in Chinese, I almost fell over. It's great." [ Back to Contents Page | Cupertino Courier Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Cupertino Courier, February 3, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.