CARLSBAD — More communication with and leadership training of parents were among the recommendations approved Wednesday by the Carlsbad school board for dealing with the families of students who speak limited English.

The board unanimously approved a series of proposals to ensure the families are treated fairly, said Superintendent Cheryl Ernst.

The recommendations were drawn up in response to a November complaint filed by Oscar de la Riva, president of the district’s English Language Parent Advisory Committee.

Sent to the California Department of Education, the complaint alleged that the Carlsbad Unified School district is failing to inform parents of their options under Proposition 227.

The voter-approved California initiative, which mandated that teaching be done overwhelmingly in English, included a clause providing for the exemption of some children from English-only instruction. No school has to provide bilingual education until it has granted 20 exemptions in one grade.

De la Riva accused the district of failing to promptly inform parents which schools their children would attend under the initiative. In addition, he complained about an absence of parent committees at some schools. He also brought up fairness issues concerning the election of committee officers.

Several of the board-approved recommendations deal with instructing parents on how they can become involved with English-language learner advisory councils and take a leadership role in the district.

“We feel that if you invite parents to become leaders, but you haven’t given them everything they need to know to feel empowered, they’re not going to step up to the plate,” said Ernst. “We want the parents to do leadership volunteering here with ease.”

Ernst promised to look at providing child care so parents with small children can attend the advisory council meetings.

De la Riva said this is a step in the right direction.

“When I wrote the complaint, I didn’t expect every single issue to be supported and for changes to be made right away,” he said. “I knew it would take months. But every single, tiny change they make to improve the services for our children and the information to our parents is greatly appreciated.”

The federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating a separate complaint on the same issues filed by de la Riva. Civil rights officials will visit Carlsbad schools next month.

This story is being rerun because parts of it were omitted in the original version that ran yesterday.



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