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Monrovia Unified board directs staff to plan consolidation of Spanish dual-immersion program at Monroe
Summary
After receiving a committee report, the Monrovia Unified School District board directed staff to develop a detailed implementation timeline to consolidate elementary Spanish dual-immersion programming at one site (Monroe) with transportation and supports, and asked the advisory group to add secondary representation.
The Monrovia Unified School District Board of Education heard a report from its elementary Spanish dual-immersion advisory committee on a proposal to consolidate the district’s Spanish dual-immersion (DI) elementary programming and gave staff direction to develop an implementation timeline and supporting analyses.
Dr Zara, who presented the committee’s findings, told the board the panel met four times and found broad support for consolidation: about 75% of parent respondents and over 90% of teachers surveyed favored moving the DI program to a single site, and the committee’s preferred option was to relocate programming to Monroe while supplying the necessary transportation, intervention services and professional development for staff. "We grew this program because families wanted it," Dr Zara said in presenting the committee’s three options — maintaining both sites, consolidating with supports, or strengthening supports at both sites — and stated the committee coalesced around consolidation with significant implementation safeguards.
Board members pressed staff on details the committee had not finalized. Several members requested district-specific evidence that DI students outperform their English-only peers and asked for precise capacity numbers for Monroe; Dr Zara later reported Monroe’s historical enrollment high of 651 and current enrollment of about 409, indicating roughly 240 seats previously used could be reclaimed. Members also emphasized the need for an equity impact analysis, robust bilingual communication and added representation from secondary parents and staff on the advisory group to ensure the K–12 trajectory of DI students is addressed.
Transportation was a recurring concern. Staff explained that California provides no general education transportation funding and that the district’s estimate for continuing general-education bus service is roughly $900,000 a year; the committee recommended that any consolidation plan include district-provided transport for families who need it.
Board President Anderson summarized the direction the board intended to give: reconvene the ESTAC (elementary Spanish dual-immersion advisory committee) with added secondary representation, retain the committee as an advisory implementation team, secure demographer support to align boundaries concurrently with consolidation planning, produce data on DI student proficiency in Monrovia Unified, and prepare an implementation timeline aimed at transition in the 2025–26 school year while maintaining equity and transportation for vulnerable students. No final operational decision on consolidation was made during the presentation portion; the board characterized the action as "direction to staff" to prepare the analyses and timeline necessary for possible future action.
