Parents press BOUSD for bilingual reading specialists and speech therapists in Dual Language Immersion program

A group of parents at the Dec. 16 Brea Olinda Unified School District board meeting urged the district to provide bilingual Tier 2 services for students in the AeroVista Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program, saying the lack of Spanish-language reading specialists and speech-language pathologists is harming students and prompting families to consider leaving the district.

Speakers including Lexia Jordan, Kathleen Reagan, Hannah Coe and Claudia Gonzales described cases in which DLI students were unable to access targeted interventions in the program's Spanish-language instructional environment. Parents asked the board to fund bilingual reading specialists and bilingual speech-language pathologists to deliver Tier 2 supports within the DLI classroom, rather than relying solely on English-only interventions.

Several parents cited lengthy waits for services and legal obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and case law. Hannah Coe noted a child's long delay in receiving needed speech support and referenced the 2017 U.S. Supreme Court case Andrew F. v. Douglas County School District as a standard for providing more-than-de-minimis educational benefit.

Trustees and staff said they heard the concerns and that special education directors (Doctor Velez and Doctor Tovar) will follow up in January with parents. Alejandra Velez, administrative director of special education, presented earlier in the meeting an action plan to address significant disproportionality and to increase access to general education through PBIS, Universal Design for Learning, and strengthened student-study processes; parents said bilingual service staffing was not yet sufficiently addressed.

Parents requested a clear timeline and committed follow-up; staff acknowledged resource constraints but said they will return with proposed solutions after the winter break.