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Community urges district to preserve Japanese program after staffing change; superintendent offers college option
Summary
Dozens of students, parents and alumni urged the Brea Olinda Unified School District April 15 to keep in-person Japanese classes, citing academic, cultural and exchange benefits; Superintendent Brenda Leon said the district will provide a Fullerton College Japanese 101 option and maintain the Japanese culture club while monitoring enrollment.
BREA — Dozens of students, parents and alumni at the Brea Olinda Unified School District board meeting on April 15 urged trustees to reverse a staffing decision affecting the district's Japanese language program, saying the course has provided academic pathways, exchange opportunities and lifelong connections.
Several high school students and alumni told the board they and their families had been changed by the program and by the district's long-running sister-city exchange with Hano, Japan. "This program changed my life because I now have a purpose and a focus," student Anthony Dukonic said during public comment, urging the board to keep Japanese in the high school curriculum. Alumni and community representatives noted the program supported student exchanges, college and career advantages, and civic ties to the sister city.
Supporters repeatedly raised enrollment figures and local experience: Henry Mitchell of the Japan Foundation Los Angeles told trustees that Japanese 1 enrollment rose from 15 students in 2023 to 21 in 2024 — "a whopping 30% increase," he said — and urged the district not to phase out the class. Student speakers described choosing Brea High in part because of the language offering and said the program supports college applications, cultural literacy and careers.
Superintendent Brenda Leon said the district has not eliminated Japanese but has adjusted staffing in response to enrollment trends. Leon said the district has "less than 40 students enrolled in Japanese 1 through 4" overall and explained the decision to offer Fullerton Community College's Japanese 101 in the summer as a way to provide college credit and a path for students to complete two years of world-language requirement in one session. "We're not discontinuing Japanese as a world language," Leon said, and she pledged district staff would follow up with speakers to discuss options and next steps.
Board members and community groups, including the Brea Sister City Association and the district's Japanese booster supporters, asked for clearer advance communication and for opportunities to help with outreach or fundraising. Several speakers recommended promoting the course as a district magnet and pursuing external sponsorships. John Michael Bettino, vice president of the Brea Sister City Association, warned that shifting to online or external offerings without a sustained in-district J1 presence could weaken the exchange that has connected hundreds of students across four decades.
The superintendent said the Japanese culture club at Brea Olinda High School will continue and district staff will contact stakeholders to discuss enrollment and program options. No formal board action to remove the program was taken at the meeting; trustees did not vote on curriculum elimination during the public-comment period.
What happens next: Leon said district staff (Joey Davis and Cecilia Story) will follow up with community members who spoke and that the district will monitor interest and adjust staffing as necessary. Several speakers said they will pursue fundraising and outreach to demonstrate demand.
