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Parents, teachers and students urge Chula Vista board to reverse curriculum cuts and oppose class-size increases
Summary
Dozens of parents, teachers and students told the Chula Vista Elementary School District board that midyear removal of Spanish-language arts materials for dual immersion grades 3–6 and proposals to open class-size limits threaten student learning, inclusion and program equity; trustees asked staff for a school-by-school materials inventory and scheduled a follow-up presentation.
Dozens of parents, teachers and students pressed the Chula Vista Elementary School District board on Nov. 12, saying the district’s midyear decision not to provide Benchmark Adelante Spanish language arts materials for dual immersion (DI) grades 3–6, together with proposals to open class-size limits in bargaining, would damage bilingual instruction and student safety.
“At Wolf Canyon every classroom is at capacity — 31 students in a single classroom is not just unreasonable, it's unsustainable,” said teacher Rachel Tehan, describing site-level grievances over class caps. Multiple teachers reported classes that already exceed contractual caps and said larger rosters reduce individualized instruction and harm students with IEPs.
Parents and community members focused much of their testimony on the DI curriculum decision. Anita Lopez, a DI teacher with 24 years’ experience, said teachers were promised the 2023 Benchmark Adelante materials during January training but were told in May they would not receive them. “We were told to use ChatGPT to help us come up with ideas,” Lopez said, calling the partial or delayed distribution disrespectful and insufficient.
Representatives of the classified employees association and the Chula Vista Educators union also urged action. CBCO’s communications vice president noted that recently funded Behavior Support Assistant roles were one-time allocations that the district now proposes to eliminate, affecting roughly 40 classified staff; CVE leaders argued that class-size language is a bargaining priority tied to student safety.
A student who addressed the board described the experience of being in a combined 4/5 class: “Sometimes I feel invisible because my teacher has so many students to help,” he said, urging trustees to consider the student perspective when weighing class configurations.
Board members repeatedly asked for concrete information. Trustees requested a school-by-school inventory showing which DI classrooms have received materials and which have not, a delivery schedule for items already purchased, and a detailed report on the number and location of combo classes (trustees cited Veterans Elementary as a site of concern). Staff agreed to provide a Friday board update with materials status broken down by school and to prepare a full presentation for the next board meeting.
The board did not take immediate action on the curriculum or class-size demands at the Nov. 12 meeting; trustees framed next steps as information-gathering. Dr. Eduardo Reyes said staff would work with principals to provide timelines and to confirm which schools have signed off that materials have been received.
What’s next: Trustees scheduled a district update and a presentation on DI curriculum changes and class-size issues at upcoming meetings and asked staff to include school-level confirmations of material receipt and an estimated arrival timeline where applicable.
