PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. (7News) — There are concerns in Prince George’s County about what could be ahead for the school district’s foreign language immersion programs.
7News spoke to parents and the Academic Dean of the Chinese Immersion program at Paint Branch Elementary in College Park.
They’re worried about a proposal to eliminate the program and say it could impact other language immersion programs in the county.
Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) confirmed to 7News that the boundary Chinese Immersion program at Paint Branch and the Spanish Immersion program at Capitol Heights Elementary could end this school year if the proposal goes through.
PGCPS said immersion pathways at Greenbelt Middle School and Largo High School would also be phased out and would no longer accept new students.
The school system emphasized that currently enrolled students would be able to continue through completion. On Jan. 27, the Chief Academic Officer of PGCPS, Dr. Judith White, informed parents that the Chinese Immersion Program could be eliminated.
The correspondence explained, “After careful consideration, we have determined that we can no longer sustain the immersion model.”
Parents at Paint Branch told 7News the Chinese Immersion program is the only one of its kind in the school system.
Currently, there’s a petition online that has been signed by more than 1,400 parents, educators, and community members.
The parent who started the online appeal says that if the proposal takes effect, it would transition the elementary school program to a basic language model with fewer hours of instruction.
That parent, Ana Gutierrez, has a 7-year-old son who attends Paint Branch.
“At this moment, they are saying they are going to be transitioning from an immersion program to a World Language model, which is simply just having a class. Kind of like having a Spanish class or Chinese class instead of being immersed in the language,” she said.
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We also spoke to Pei-Hsuan Liu, Academic Dean of Chinese Immersion at Paint Branch.
“I want them to consider if we can size down to another program such as [a] lottery or just make the program smaller. Because once you eliminate our program, there’s no Chinese immersion in PG,” Liu told us.
On Feb. 3, PGCPS leaders met with parents online to offer more information about the proposal.
They explained that the Chinese Immersion program costs the district $1.9 million.
PGCPS told 7News the cuts are being considered as the school system addresses a $150 million budget gap.
“This decision wasn’t based on whether a program is successful. It’s based on it being one of the most expensive models that we have that we’re not running the way we should be running it. Where we’re struggling to get teachers to support it, and where our team in the school is constantly working on revamping the model every year to make it happen,” White told meeting attendees.
“Our school Paint Branch Elementary is a Title 1 school. It consists of mostly low income families. It’s around 500 kids, so it’s going to have a big impact on our community in College Park and across PG County,” Paint Branch Parent and PTA Secretary Alexandra Tyukavina shared.
Parents told 7News they plan to testify at a budget hearing on Feb.19 at 5 p.m.
The school board is expected to vote on the budget and the immersion program proposal on Feb. 26.
