District 300 parents oppose dual language cuts

Students in Community Unit District 300's dual language program only attend three of the district's 27 schools, but they were a major reason the District 300 school board had to move its Monday meeting at the last minute.

Parents and children in the dual language program showed up in force Monday to implore district administration and board members to reconsider cutting transportation for the program.

The spectacular attendance prompted the board, for the first time in recent memory, to shift the meeting from the overflowing board room to the much more spacious Carpentersville Middle School auditorium next door.

In the dual language program, students from both English and Spanish-speaking households receive instruction primarily in Spanish starting in kindergarten. Over the next five years, the amount of English instruction gradually increases until students spend half their day learning in each language.

The program serves 134 students at Liberty, Wright and Meadowdale elementary schools. Of those students, 74 are bused to their schools. The district estimates it can save $157,000 by making parents responsible for transportation.

The results of the program were evident Monday, as 6- and 7-year-old children from English backgrounds read short, prepared statements in Spanish - showing command of sentence construction, vocabulary and pronunciation.

"It will be very sad if my friends can't come to school because they don't have transportation," said Liberty second-grader Maddie Gallo, translating from Spanish. "My friends help me learn Spanish. Now I can talk to people that speak Spanish, and I am very proud of it."

Supporters say eliminating transportation for dual language kids would force many families to pull their children out of the program.

"If they don't have transportation - some of the Spanish speakers may not be able to transport their children to the school," said District 300 Title III coordinator Raul Menchaca, who oversees the dual language program.

The potential dual-language cuts are part of about $1.2 million in transportation reductions district officials are considering to balance the 2010-11 budget. Also on the table are cuts to transportation for parochial school students, high school students who take classes at Elgin Community College and preschoolers.

The school board approved $4.6 million in cuts on Monday, and the transportation reductions would help the district meet its goal of slashing $6.4 million from next year's budget, administrators say.

Calling the children's presentation a "very impressive display," board President Joe Stevens said the board is sensitive to parents' concerns but must ultimately respond to the state's budget crisis.

"We would not be in this position is we were paid the money the state owes us," Stevens said. "We're going to do everything we can do to be responsive."

The board is scheduled to vote on the transportation cuts on April 26.