By Elizabeth Silva, Bancroft Elementary Parent
On January 28, families at Bancroft Elementary in the Mount Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) received an email that would upend our children’s education. The district announced it would phase out the Two-Way Spanish Dual Immersion program at the school, the longest-running and highest-performing Spanish immersion program in the district, and shift new kindergarteners to Woodside Elementary School beginning in 2026–2027.
The timing was stunning. The notice came fewer than two weeks before kindergarten enrollment opened. There was no advance parent engagement, and no consultation with the English learner advisory committee (ELAC) or district English learner advisory committee (DELAC). There was no alignment with the Local Control and Accountability Plan. The School Site Council had no advance notice and was never asked for input. No outreach happened to the very families and teachers who built the program. The district’s Multilingual Education Department wasn’t consulted, despite such programs falling under their purview. Together with the teachers, they all learned of the fate of the program on January 28. In a district that speaks often about equity and inclusion, the decision was delivered without either.
The justifications have shifted repeatedly.
First, the district cited low performance among English Learners. Yet district data shows English Learners in Bancroft’s dual immersion program outperform their peers in Bancroft’s English-only program, and test results of students in the Bancroft Elementary dual immersion program rank highest among the district’s six Spanish immersion sites. Next, officials cited a teacher shortage, only to publicly acknowledge that information was incorrect. Capacity concerns were raised, though there is space in the English-only classrooms, and after-school care expansion had already been approved without displacing classrooms. Later, financial pressures were mentioned vaguely without sharing any specifics, but relocating the program appears cost-neutral in staffing and coincides with low enrollment at Woodside.
Parents are left asking: If the program is underperforming, why move it rather than fix it? And if it is high-performing, why dismantle it at all?
This decision also lands in a district with relevant recent history. In 2022, when a Walnut Creek group attempted to form a breakaway district, the California State Board of Education unanimously rejected the petition because it would have increased segregation and harmed remaining schools. Now families wonder whether dismantling a diverse, high-performing dual immersion program, the only one in the city of Walnut Creek, could quietly produce similar demographic consequences, this time from within.
Bancroft’s program is more than an instructional model. It is a magnet for Latino families and one of the few consistent sources of diversity feeding into Foothill Middle School and Northgate High School. Was a demographic analysis conducted before this move? What are the projected impacts on those schools? Why are other schools in MDUSD allowed to retain a dual-immersion classroom while Bancroft is not?
More than 10 Uniform Complaints have been filed alleging violations of multiple California Education Code provisions requiring parent consultation before major programmatic changes. The district has 60 days to review the complaints. But Kindergarten enrollment is happening now. Five hundred community members have signed a petition asking the district to stop the removal of the Spanish Immersion Program at Bancroft. Seventy-five parents and students have attended the last two school board meetings. City leaders and state legislators have expressed concern. Yet Superintendent Adam Clark has not substantively answered parents’ questions, nor paused implementation.
This issue sits at the intersection of educational equity, district accountability, and California’s commitment to multilingualism under Proposition 58. Are districts required to engage communities before dismantling language acquisition programs? Were in-boundary parents surveyed about their rights under Prop 58? Did Woodside families request this program — or is it being imposed? What steps are being taken to ensure the program survives in a new school?
And most importantly, does MDUSD believe the laws requiring consultation apply here?
Parents are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for transparency, lawful process, and a pause. When access to multilingual education can be removed with nine days’ notice — and questions are met with silence — trust erodes.
California has made a promise to expand bilingual education, not quietly dismantle it. The families in this program are simply asking the district to honor that commitment.
