Any New Immersion Parents Worried that the program might get dismantled due to budget cuts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reportedly the immersion costs are actually higher than what is listed as a Budget Tool option.

Source?

Email on the FCAG Yahoo group

[Anonymous]

Misrepresentation for Immersion on the budget tool. The task force didn't check this? Who appointed the chair? Who is the budget chair?
http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/documents/approved/FY15/ProgramBudgetFY15.pdf

p 125 has 2.4 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Misrepresentation for Immersion on the budget tool. The task force didn't check this? Who appointed the chair? Who is the budget chair?
http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/documents/approved/FY15/ProgramBudgetFY15.pdf

p 125 has 2.4 million

Nice catch, PP.

Not sure how Matt Haley (chair) was chosen. (Maybe it was by the members of the Task Force?)

http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2017/taskforce/docs/Budget%20Task%20Force%20Members.pdf

[Anonymous]

^^ sorry, I should have kept looking. Dr. Garza selected Matt Haley as chair, as shown in the notes from the June 24 meeting.

http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2017/taskforce/docs/Meeting%20Notes%206-24.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Misrepresentation for Immersion on the budget tool. The task force didn't check this? Who appointed the chair? Who is the budget chair?
http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/documents/approved/FY15/ProgramBudgetFY15.pdf

p 125 has 2.4 million

Nice catch, PP.

Not sure how Matt Haley (chair) was chosen. (Maybe it was by the members of the Task Force?)

http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2017/taskforce/docs/Budget%20Task%20Force%20Members.pdf

[Anonymous]

^^sorry for the double post

[Anonymous]

FLES is $6,054,708

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit I'm a worrier, so maybe this is just my nerves talking. But, I keep hearing bits and pieces here and there from parents worried about the ending of the immersion program due to budget cuts. It costs $1.6 Mil (not sure why, but that's what the budget report said), so there's a reason to cut it or severely trim it. I worry about having made the sacrifice to leave our neighborhood school for immersion and then it's all cut. Does anyone know with more information how serious this might actually be?

Immersion schools get extra staff. I think it's 1 teacher and an aid and is supposed to balance out the attrition aka lessen impacts on class sizes. What really happens is not pretty. If you start with 27 in the program and it reaches less than 15 just how many do you think are in the classroom? How do the numbers balance out? It drains resources from regular education. This article explains the drain:
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2013/feb/05/french-immersion-herndon-elementary-jeopardy/

Immersion schools fight to not do splits or combo grade classes so everybody suffers. Spanish immersion is another tool for esol.

As an actual immersion parent, I'll tell you what is going on at my school. There were 52 2nd grade immersion students for 2 classes of 26, when we started. Yes, we lost kids to AAP in 3rd grade (my estimate is about 7-8) and there was some attrition due to military/job transfers. Our two immersion class sizes went down to about 20-22 by the end of third. So, in 4th, they have folded one class of immersion into the rest of the 4th grade, and kept one class together (I assume to balance class sizes, but I don't know). The kids who are folded in to other classrooms are still immersion - but they do English with their respective teachers and go to my child's homeroom teacher for Math/Science in Spanish. My child's English/SS teacher is also teaching 5th grade immersion students.

So rather than hypothesizing about what happens, there's an actual story. My kid would still need a teacher, immersion or not. And I can't think of ONE student in our grade that is ESOL. Not a one.

So in 4rth one class is immersion only and for the foreign language portion of the day other students are pulled out from English only classes and join your child's immersion class. How many were in the other grade 3 classes?

German immersion parent here - this is what my school does also at 4th or 5th grade (based on the year and head count). I call it a "middle school" style. The kids switch for English and science, but where as before they switched just between two teachers in the primary grades, this year for 4th grade they switch between 5 teachers (two math/science teachers (one is german math) and 3 english teachers). So for the "english" classes the kids are mixed with kids in the immersion program and general ed. In there earlier grades they just switched between two teachers. I'd be willing to bet that if it was a normal school we would need anther teacher. For 6th grade for one of my kids they had 32 kids in the german science class. That wouldn't be allowed at "regular" school. By the time you get to 4th grade and you had strings, AAP pull out, then band at 5th grade and all other pull outs - it is practically middle school with each kid going their own way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reportedly the immersion costs are actually higher than what is listed as a Budget Tool option.

Source?

Email on the FCAG Yahoo group

Well of course they would say that. God forbid parents have to send kids to LLIV at the base school if they cut bussing to centers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FLES is $6,054,708

umm, that is not immersion. That is a different program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit I'm a worrier, so maybe this is just my nerves talking. But, I keep hearing bits and pieces here and there from parents worried about the ending of the immersion program due to budget cuts. It costs $1.6 Mil (not sure why, but that's what the budget report said), so there's a reason to cut it or severely trim it. I worry about having made the sacrifice to leave our neighborhood school for immersion and then it's all cut. Does anyone know with more information how serious this might actually be?

Immersion schools get extra staff. I think it's 1 teacher and an aid and is supposed to balance out the attrition aka lessen impacts on class sizes. What really happens is not pretty. If you start with 27 in the program and it reaches less than 15 just how many do you think are in the classroom? How do the numbers balance out? It drains resources from regular education. This article explains the drain:
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2013/feb/05/french-immersion-herndon-elementary-jeopardy/

Immersion schools fight to not do splits or combo grade classes so everybody suffers. Spanish immersion is another tool for esol.

As an actual immersion parent, I'll tell you what is going on at my school. There were 52 2nd grade immersion students for 2 classes of 26, when we started. Yes, we lost kids to AAP in 3rd grade (my estimate is about 7-8) and there was some attrition due to military/job transfers. Our two immersion class sizes went down to about 20-22 by the end of third. So, in 4th, they have folded one class of immersion into the rest of the 4th grade, and kept one class together (I assume to balance class sizes, but I don't know). The kids who are folded in to other classrooms are still immersion - but they do English with their respective teachers and go to my child's homeroom teacher for Math/Science in Spanish. My child's English/SS teacher is also teaching 5th grade immersion students.

So rather than hypothesizing about what happens, there's an actual story. My kid would still need a teacher, immersion or not. And I can't think of ONE student in our grade that is ESOL. Not a one.

So in 4rth one class is immersion only and for the foreign language portion of the day other students are pulled out from English only classes and join your child's immersion class. How many were in the other grade 3 classes?

German immersion parent here - this is what my school does also at 4th or 5th grade (based on the year and head count). I call it a "middle school" style. The kids switch for English and science, but where as before they switched just between two teachers in the primary grades, this year for 4th grade they switch between 5 teachers (two math/science teachers (one is german math) and 3 english teachers). So for the "english" classes the kids are mixed with kids in the immersion program and general ed. In there earlier grades they just switched between two teachers. I'd be willing to bet that if it was a normal school we would need anther teacher. For 6th grade for one of my kids they had 32 kids in the german science class. That wouldn't be allowed at "regular" school. By the time you get to 4th grade and you had strings, AAP pull out, then band at 5th grade and all other pull outs - it is practically middle school with each kid going their own way.

Actually in my DS's grade (same school) there are three math/science teachers in the morning and two LA/SS teachers. The problem with that is the LA/SS classes end up being much larger than the math/science.

[Anonymous]

When will parents have some inkling of the plan according to the budget. I agree immersion is threatened to be cut every year, but I also think the can keeps getting kicked down the road. At some point some programs will have to go. That or taxes will have to skyrocket. Something has got to give

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When will parents have some inkling of the plan according to the budget. I agree immersion is threatened to be cut every year, but I also think the can keeps getting kicked down the road. At some point some programs will have to go. That or taxes will have to skyrocket. Something has got to give

See this thread:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/499836.page

[Anonymous]

From the comments made by Dr. Garza during yesterday's budget work session, it seems FY 2017 is just the beginning, as FY 2018 and FY 2019 are even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FLES is $6,054,708

umm, that is not immersion. That is a different program.

Found 6 million to cut in addition to immersion 2 million.