BUENA PARK : Anti-Bilingual Stand Reiterated by Parents

For the fourth time in recent months, some Buena Park parents told Centralia School District trustees that they don’t want their children to be in bilingual classes at G.H. Dysinger School.

Parent Cindy Hair complained that parents don’t have a choice about whether their English-speaking students are in classes where Spanish also is spoken.

“Currently, according to the Centralia School District, parental choice only means choice in school--not a choice in what type of program or class your child is placed,” she said.

But board President Karen Blake said the district has no choice.

“We have to live within state and federal (laws),” Blake said. “Bilingual programs must take place. We have no choice.”

Hair presented the board with a three-page letter signed by 40 parents outlining their concerns. Parents also submitted a list of questions to the board, including queries about the cost of bilingual education.

Blake said parents’ questions will be answered by the next board meeting Jan. 12.

Jennifer Davis, whose first-grader is in a bilingual class, said parents should be notified before school officials place students in bilingual classes.

“My parental consent should’ve been required,” Davis said. “It is my parental right.”

District and school officials said that professional judgment is used in the placement of children and that decisions are made by a team of educators.