Fresno Unified plans to add Punjabi and Mixtec to its multilingual program offerings next year while also expanding access to dual immersion programs like Spanish and Hmong.

District officials described the expansion as a proactive approach to reaching ambitious state goals and a continued effort to bring more programs to families.

California Global 2030, a statewide initiative geared toward students learning different languages, is a call to action for K-12 systems to expand access to world language classes, programs and experiences.

Under the initiative, the state hopes that, by 2030, half of its K-12 students will be participating in programs for them to become proficient in two or more languages.

Here’s what’s coming to Fresno Unified

Sandra Toscano, the district’s instructional superintendent for multilingual/multicultural education, detailed the district’s plans during a presentation to the school board on April 12.

Birney Elementary will become a neighborhood Spanish Dual Language Immersion program next school year.

“That community has been asking and (has been) eager to implement this,” Board President Veva Islas said.

Tehipite Middle School will be a part of the Spanish Dual Language Immersion pathway for the regional elementary schools to feed into the Roosevelt High region.

Hmong Dual Language Immersion will expand to Sequoia Middle School in one year when students from Vang Pao and Balderas matriculate into seventh grade.

The district is already touted for its first-of-its-kind Hmong program.

Fresno Unified will add after-school heritage language programs over the next three years, including:

• Punjabi at Lawless and Storey; Mixtec at Hidalgo; and Hmong at Norseman and Balderas in the 2023-24 school year

• Spanish at Powers, Lincoln, Vinland, Mayfair and Olmos; Arabic at Williams; and Hmong at Easterby in 2024-25

• Spanish at Slater, Columbia, Fremont, Yokomi, Webster and Aynesworth; Arabic at Wolters; and Hmong at Turner in 2025-26

The programs were recommended based on the language population at each school.

Whereas language courses teach a student a new language, heritage classes are for students who speak a language at home with their families but may lack the ability to read or write in that language, Toscano detailed.

“They never truly learned how to read and write in the language,” she said. “So you’re going to have students who come to you with some language foundation.”

Language instruction is taught as well as cultural and historical lessons.

How much will expanded programs cost?

Toscano said they don’t expect the expansion to dual immersion programs to cost the district more money because they aren’t actually adding any new classes. They plan to recruit current bilingual teachers willing to teach in a dual immersion model.

“We’re not adding teachers to the staffing,” she said.

The addition of new after-school programs, however, could cost between $40,000 and $75,000 each, but the district won’t know for sure until Fresno Unified and community organizations can discuss and commit to program staffing.

If the school district or its program partners have staff who speak Spanish or Hmong, for example, there are no additional costs for Fresno Unified.

Toscano predicts spending around $45,000 for contract work for Mixtec at Hidalgo and $40,000 contracts for Arabic programs the next two school years — $120,000 in all in three years. There are staff who speak Punjabi and can be deployed to after-school programs.

Will staffing keep up with growth?

To meet the demand, the school district constantly recruits staff, whether for its after-school programs or its dual language classes, Toscano said.

FUSD also develops its own staff.

During the fall and spring semesters, Fresno Unified hosts a Dual Immersion/Bilingual Academy for its current teachers to be trained as bilingual teachers and earn a bilingual certification. About 60 teachers participate in the program each year.

“It’s building from within,” Toscano said. “We do two or three years of work prior to that teacher actually teaching the language that we need. That’s why it takes so much planning.”

With program expansion, schools such as Sequoia Middle School are already preparing for the 2024-25 school year, when the Vang Pao and Balderas elementary students in the Hmong program will advance to the seventh grade.

“Staffing has to happen now,” Toscano said, noting how bilingual educators are considered hard-to-fill positions.

By staffing, she means the district recruits one of its current staff with a bilingual certification and with another teaching credential. Until the year the teacher takes over the bilingual class, he or she teaches in another subject area while working at the school site and learning about the school’s culture and meeting students.

It’s still not an additional cost for the district because that teacher is already working at the school.

“It comes up a lot: ‘There must be some sacrifice (for expansion),’” Toscano said about the fact that costs are seemingly minimal. While there are some sacrifices, her department tries to be creative to keep costs level while continuing to expand.

The district’s residency program also recruits at least 15 Spanish and Hmong dual immersion teachers annually and hires them for dual language immersion schools so there won’t be vacancies throughout the school year, Toscano said.

“We, as a board and as a district, value and honor language diversity,” Islas said. “We encourage it, we invest in it, we support it, and we want to see more of our children being multilingual.”

Education Lab Newsletter

Get stories that matter on education issues critical to the advancement of San Joaquin Valley residents, with a focus on Fresno. Sign up, and join the conversation.

SIGN UP

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.