To Whom It May Concern,

We are writing to express our deep concern and strong objection to the District’s proposed reassignment of Transitional Kindergarten (TK) students from Live Oak Elementary School to Green Acres Elementary due to staffing and budget concerns.

Our children are currently enrolled in the Dual Language Immersion (DLI) TK program at Live Oak. Like many other families, we intentionally chose this program and this school because of its unique educational offering—Live Oak is the only site in the district that offers a dual immersion track. We have turned down enrollment offers at other schools—some outside the district—to ensure that our children could access this specific program. We know other families have relocated specifically to attend Live Oak’s Dual Language Immersion program.

To now be told that our children may be forcibly reassigned to a school that does not offer the same program, four weeks into the school year, is not only distressing—it is educationally inappropriate and potentially unlawful.

1. Denial of Access to a Specialized Educational Program

This is not a simple school placement issue. The Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program at Live Oak is a specialized instructional model designed to develop bilingualism and biliteracy through integrated language and content instruction. According to the California Department of Education’s Dual Language Instruction Guide, such programs require continuity and stability in enrollment to ensure effective language acquisition and academic progress.

Removing students from this program without offering an equivalent alternative at Green Acres undermines the state’s commitment to multilingual education, equity, and access. Families enrolled in DLI made informed, often difficult, choices based on the expectation of program stability. Arbitrary reassignment disrupts the educational benefits of this specialized program and violates both the spirit and letter of California’s multilingual education policies.

2. Staffing Ratios Are the District’s Responsibility

The district must hire the additional aide necessary to meet the required 1:10 adult-to-student ratio in TK classrooms, as mandated by Education Code § 48000(g). The fact that another district school is under-enrolled should have been addressed well prior to the start of the school year through proper staffing and enrollment planning. It is not appropriate to resolve this issue by displacing students from a specialized program after enrollment decisions have been finalized.

The existence of one or two additional TK students above the current staffing threshold does not justify forcibly relocating children—especially when that decision impacts access to a specialized educational program. The district must explore staffing-based solutions before displacing students and families who enrolled in good faith.

3. Disruption to Young Learners and Violation of Parental Choice

At this early stage in the school year, children are still adjusting to their new environment, building community, and forming crucial attachments. Pulling students out now is inappropriate and risks harm to their emotional well-being and educational progress. The district’s plan to disrupt these young learners not only undermines their development but contradicts best practices in early childhood education.

Moreover, families like ours made irreversible decisions based on the district’s advertised offerings at Live Oak. We gave up spots at other schools, some outside the district, that are no longer available to us. Others relocated upon their children's enrollment. The district’s attempt to involuntarily move students after these decisions were made is unacceptable and violates the spirit of California’s parental choice laws and district obligations.

4. Request for Immediate Action

I respectfully urge the Board and district leadership to:

Cease any involuntary reassignment of TK students currently enrolled at Live Oak Elementary.

Provide full staffing support to comply with Education Code § 48000(g) without displacing students.

Honor family placement decisions, particularly those based on access to specialized programs like DLI.

Commit to transparent, inclusive dialogue with impacted families before enacting any further changes.

5. Notice of Potential Complaint

Should the district proceed with involuntary reassignment, I reserve the right to file a formal complaint under the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) through the California Department of Education. The basis for such a complaint includes:

Denial of access to a specialized program offered by the district.

Failure to uphold the principles of program stability and parental choice.

Procedural irregularities in student reassignment decisions.

These actions are not only harmful to children’s educational continuity but may be inconsistent with district policy, state educational code, and established public commitments to equity and access.

We would like to request a meeting and we would appreciate responses to the following:

1. Will moved children lose their before and after care access?
2. Will children reassigned to Green Acres Elementary be able to transfer to the DLI (dual language immersion) program at Live Oak Elementary for Kindergarten?
3. When we received the call informing us our children were accepted into the DLI program, why were we not informed that our children could be unenrolled from the DLI program?
4. How do you determine the number of students to overenroll into the DLI program at initial acceptance?
5. How many of the children transferred last year left the school district this year?
6. If the parents were to fund raise some of the cost and volunteer, would the district cover the remaining aide cost?
7. Why were the teachers not informed in advance of the announcement on Friday, September 5th?
8. Does the district plan to offer equivalent DLI to our children?
9. How does the district plan to change this process so that children and their families do not need to repeat this same process?

We respectfully request for this to be a topic at the upcoming board meeting prior to the decision of whom to transfer to Green Acres Elementary. Our community deserves thoughtful, lawful, and student-centered decision-making. I appreciate your urgent attention to this matter and look forward to your response.