At the March 11th Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) Board of Trustees meeting, the board received an update on the Multi-Lingual Learner Master Plan. The presentation highlighted the risk of some English Learners to become Long Term English Learners, which are students who have not tested as proficient in English within five to six years. The Board was concerned that the Dual Language programs had not been expanded to more sites or grades, despite it being scheduled for expansion this academic year. They pressed District staff to provide a timeline and update on the progress of the MLL Plan soon.

Multi-Language Learners In HUSD

During the presentation by Angelica Alamillo-Pérez, Director of Multilingual Learner Programs, said that HUSD currently has 5,880 multilingual learners with 3,998 students in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) where all instruction is in English. The remaining students are in some form of Dual Language program, 1,882 students. "Dual Language programs are widely recognized as a best practice for supporting multi-language learners," Director Alamillo-Pérez said.

Seven elementary school sites provide Dual Language 1-Way programs for students whose home language is not English, and three school sites provide Dual Language 2-Way programs which promotes bilingualism for both native English speakers and native speakers of another language (Spanish or Mandarin, depending on the site). However, there are currently no Dual Language programs at middle or high schools. Director Alamillo-Pérez said that the proposed transition to a 6-8 model for middle schools could be an opportunity to change that.

Those who complete the Dual Language program have the opportunity to earn a State Seal of Biliteracy in 12th grade and the number of students earning it has increased over time. Last year, 132 High School Seniors earned the seal.

Unfortunately, many English Learners (ELs) are at risk of becoming Long Term English Learners (LTELs), which are students who have not tested as proficient in English on the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) within five to six years. Some Multilingual Learners are also require Special Education needs, which can exacerbate the problem and require coordination between different departments.

Muddied Progress

Unfortunately, according to the ELPAC scores, the number of students who are increasing their English proficiency levels is going down while the number who are staying steady is increasing. This means that more students are not making progress to improve their English language proficiency. These students are at risk of becoming Long Term English Learners (LTELs).

According to the English Learner Progress Dashboard from the State, HUSD is below state average for English Learners and LTELs and appear to be declining in progress. However, individual schools are showing signs of improvement. Glassbrook has seen an 11.7% increase, and Mt. Eden, Treeview, and Tennyson are also seeing improvement in their English Learner scores. However, this is only four sites out of 28 total (14%). College and Career Readiness appears to be increasing at a faster rate among English Learners than the general population, and ELPAC reclassifications to English Proficient are increasing very slightly (0.27%).

The number of English Learners enrolling in HUSD is decreasing, though it was unclear if this was due to reclassifications or because of declining enrollment as a whole. Director Alamillo-Pérez was hopeful that the number of reclassifications to English Proficient would meet or exceed the 634 students from last year.

Long Term English Learners

LTELs also received some scrutiny in the presentation. The majority of the students are US-born students who speak Spanish at home. Director Alamillo-Pérez said that LTELs were created in schools by not providing appropriate instruction or support. "[LTELs have] challenges in academic language and content proficiency similar to other marginalized groups in California," she said.

Director Alamillo-Pérez also pointed out that 64% of LTELs were in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) instead of a Dual Language program. She used this to push for an expansion of the Dual Language program, however, the ratio of LTELs in SEI and DL programs closely mirrored the total student ratio. 32% of all Multilingual Learners are in Dual Language programs while 36% of LTELs are in Dual Language programs.

Growing In Teacher Support

When looking at next steps, the presentation focused almost exclusively on Professional Learning opportunities for staff and teachers. They highlighted Dual Language Site support, mostly in the form of on-site training for teachers and support from English Language Program Specialists, as well as training sessions for Dual Language teachers in August and November of this last year.

The future steps primarily involved professional development and research, including studying the effectiveness of designated English Language Development classes and researching expanding Dual Language Immersion into grades 7-12.

Why Isn't DLI Expanding?

Trustee April Oquenda asked Director Alamillo-Pérez how much the program has expanded since 2023 when the plan was adopted. Director Alamillo-Pérez said that it has been expanded "professional learning to staff." But Trustee Oquenda asked why the DLI program hadn't been expanded this past year as was planned. Director Alamillo-Pérez said it was on hold "due to our ability to engage with our community around it." She again tied it to the proposed 6-8 model that will be discussed next year.

"I hear about the community bandwidth," Trustee Oquenda said, "all of that. Is there a financial component to expanding?" Any expansion would require additional courses in middle schools, which would require teachers and staff.

"[For the past seven years] the board, regardless of its iteration, has unanimously agreed that DLI expansion should be something we prioritize as a district," Trustee Oquenda said. "We know there are draws for families who want to enroll their students and who might go elsewhere because programs are offered through secondary school. What do we have to do to make the District respond to that request?"

Superintendent Chen Wu-Fernandez said that District staff will make a timeline for expanding the DLI program, but explained multiple times that she wanted it separated from the 6-8 conversion.

Trustee Austin Bruckner-Carrillo asked why the Board of Trustees hadn't been notified that the DLI expansion was being delayed. "When decision are made at the staff level to take a board approved plan and change the implementation timeline that we established within the plan... I would like to see something come back to the board," he said.

Trustee Ken Rawdon worried about how the many plans fit together. "We have so many plans in our district," he said. "And they seem to not speak to each other." Director Alamillo-Pérez said that the MLL Master Plan does interface with other plans like the Literacy Plan.

Trustee Prada also supported expanding the DLI program. "I am a huge fan of expanding the Dual [Language] program," she said. "What does [expanding] look like?" Director Alamillo-Pérez said they've already done feasibility research and that in middle schools, students would take Spanish Language Arts and either Math or History in Spanish.

Public Wants Expanded DLI

Araceli Orozco, a parent at HUSD, said she had pushed to expand Dual Language Immersion two years ago when she was on the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC). "I don't know why it has taken so long," she said.

Mercedes Faraj, President of the Hayward Education Association (HEA), pushed the District to just implement its plan. "What's at hand is an MLL plan that needs to be implemented," she said. "It needs support. It needs finances. It needs the right people at the table." She called for teachers and DLI specialists to be included in conversations around the program.

Parents Continue To Protest Closure

Parents of students at Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science protested in front of the HUSD District Office and held signs when giving public comment at the meeting. Children and parents spoke in support of the school, especially for those students in Special Education classes. They took issue with the sudden change and the issues with changing schools, especially to some the parents deemed to be too large for their children.

Araceli Orozco alleged that the community had not been properly informed about the closure and laid the blame squarely on Superintendent Chen Wu-Fernandez. "I like you and everything," she said, "but as Superintendent, I don't think that you're the right person for this district."

Mercedes Faraj took issue with the lack of communication between District leadership and HEA around things like the proposed 6-8 conversion, parcel tax, closure of Faith Ringgold, or budget and solvency plans despite dozens of meetings. "There was a time in this very building," she said, "when we had conversations before you made decisions based on I-don't-know-what. You valued input. You now bypass our input. It seems very intentional."

One speaker, who is an employee at HUSD, wondered why management refused to furlough to save a school. "Administrators that make maybe triple what I make can't make a sacrifice," she said.