Growing budget concerns are prompting Belmont school officials to gauge interest in starting a Spanish immersion program through preregistration and further study on funding options before giving the go-ahead for a fall start.

Offering a dual Spanish immersion program at Nesbit Elementary School in Belmont was marred with funding worries. With the district facing more budget cuts, starting a program that has growing monetary obligations rightfully concerned the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District Board of Trustees. Parents advocating the opening of such a program this fall pledged donations to fund the program in the first few years — hopefully the hardest financial years — through donations. While trustees welcomed the promise, they noted there is no legal obligation to pay. Concerns led the board to request more information — such as the number of parents willing to sign up and funding options — by its March meeting when a vote will be taken.

Trustee Brian Matthews was concerned about raising the funds needed in the years to come. In 2016, the program is estimated to cost $115,000.

“I believe those who have talked will come up, but four or five years down the road we’ll need even more money. I worry at that point, people will forget about the work done by these folks,” he said, adding that, as a result, they will not feel the same obligation to donate money to fund the program.

Parent Yuval Erlich called the district’s estimate for bringing in revenue based on donations a gross underestimate.

“The money is in the bank. It wasn’t there always, but it’s there now. We can’t stop starting programs because there is a crisis,” he said.

Donations aside, the district has no ongoing revenue source to fund the program, Assistant Superintendent Penny Weaver said.

The district has never allowed donations to be earmarked for a particular program. Board President Cathy Wright wondered what made this pot of money different? Without being able to answer that, she worried about setting a precedent for parents supporting other programs.

For Trustee Andrew Stulbarg, the issue was funding about $40,000 in the first year to benefit 40 kids when the district is responsible for 3,000 children. Spending so much on so few of the districts children could mean the majority misses out.

“I understand all the benefits. I just don’t know how we pay for it,” he said.

Dual immersion, as proposed, would be a 90/10 program, with ideally half of the students as native English-speaking and half native Spanish-speaking students. Students start receiving 90 percent of their education in Spanish and 10 percent in English while in kindergarten. Each year, the percentage taught in Spanish drops 10 percent while the portion taught in English raises 10 percent. The goal is that classes are taught half in each language during the later elementary school years, said consultant Kevin Chavez, who began working with the district through parent donations.

Beginning a program will include two kindergarten classes and possibly two first grade classes as well, if certificated teachers are available. The proposal calls for kindergarten teachers to offer enrichment opportunities to second grade students to emphasize the program on campus. Chavez noted this could be up to 30 minutes per day, depending on how the program is set up.

Those interested in an immersion program shared a desire to have a program in either Spanish or Mandarin. Spanish was suggested as a starting point given the ability to more easily find teachers and state-approved curriculum materials, Chavez explained.

Target location

Nesbit was the proposed location since it has space, but also because it has the largest population as Spanish-speaking English learners in the district, at 26 percent, explained Assistant Superintendent Penny Weaver.

Creating the immersion program by next fall comes with a $37,480 first-year cost, which increases in the coming years as the program grows. Weaver projected the program would be 280 students at capacity, costing $141,990 by 2016. Such enrollment numbers would transition Nesbit to be an immersion school, something that worried Wright and Matthews who noted that will mean children who live in the Nesbit area but do not want to attend an immersion program will go to another school.

The presented budget assumed parents of new students in the program will donate $200 annually and parents of continuing students would donate $100 annually.

Parent proposes donations

Parent David Hoffman promised $23,000 as a down payment on next year’s cost from a handful of parents if the board approved the program last night. He further promised the remaining funds needed for the first year would be to the district before the program would start in the fall.

The tentative go-ahead allows the district to have parents who might be interested to enroll their students into the program. In March, the district should know the number of families wanting to sign up and from where those students would be moved before making a final decision on the program.

Parents interested in immersion will need to register for two programs. First, parents need to register their child at their neighborhood school, to guarantee a spot in case the immersion program does not occur, Weaver explained. Second, parents will need to sign up for the potential immersion program.

Parents listed a variety of reasons for supporting such a program ranging from wanting children to have access to foreign language to leaving the district for similar public programs elsewhere.

Enrollment issues

Enrollment is an issue within the district. Nesbit has been, and most likely will remain, the home to many students who were not able to attend their neighborhood school because of overcrowding. Parents noted the program would allow families to choose Nesbit rather than be forced to attend the school. While this program would be a draw, the board wanted to look at the issue on its merits as a program, not as a potential solution for enrollment issues.

For more information about the immersion program contact the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District at 637-4800 or brssd.org.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.