BUENA PARK : Board Hears New Plea From Parent

A frustrated G.H. Dysinger School parent made another plea to the Centralia School District Board of Trustees this week to get his first-grade son moved from a bilingual classroom.

“His teacher says he’s in a very precarious position, and by the end of the year he’ll probably be below grade level,” parent David Kendrick told the board Tuesday night.

“I don’t know if it’s because he’s in a bilingual classroom. But if he remains in the bilingual classroom, he won’t get his required education--what he deserves.”

Since the start of the school year, Kendrick has asked that his son be allowed to switch classrooms at the Buena Park school. But he said his concerns have not been addressed.

“I have worked and worked and talked and talked with the principal and I didn’t get anywhere, that’s why I went to the board,” Kendrick, who has addressed trustees at three recent meetings, said in an interview. “If I would have gotten satisfaction from the principal, I would not have gone to the board.”

District officials have told Kendrick that he can move his son to another school within the district and have reassured him that his son is receiving instruction in English.

In addition, district officials said that decisions on student placement in a classroom are made by a team of teachers and school administrators and that parents’ requests are taken into consideration but cannot always be met.

“If you feel the school is not meeting your child’s needs, you can take your child to a school of your choice,” Board President John Alvis said.

Dysinger Principal Cindy Chaffee said that the school has taken Kendrick’s concerns seriously and believes that his son has been properly placed.

“He has been placed in the best learning environment,” Chaffee said. “If this placement was not the best learning environment for the child, I would not have hesitated to make (other) arrangements.

“We have spent countless hours and time with the concerns of this family because we, too, are very interested in the student’s success. . . . We feel we’re doing everything in the very best interest of the student.”

Parent Cindy Hair also told trustees of concern about the placement of English-speaking children in bilingual classrooms.

“We don’t have a choice where our children are placed,” said Hair, who has a daughter in a bilingual class.

“I feel in the Kendricks’ case, that that child should be moved and placed in a different classroom,” she said. “Parents who voice an opinion should have a choice.”

Hair said that she is not against bilingual education and that the services need to be offered.

“I believe that all classes should be taught in English. We need supplementary services (for non-English-speaking students), but they need to be provided outside the classroom,” Hair said.