Westside parents urge Long Beach Unified to keep Stevens dual-immersion strand

Parents and students told the Long Beach Unified School District board that moving the district—s dual-immersion middle-school strand to Hoover would create transportation barriers that force Westside students out of the program.

"Without transportation, students may be forced to leave a program they have been committed to," parent Crystal Mears told the board during public comment, arguing that Stevens Middle School should retain the DI strand to keep access local for Westside families. Student Sophia Grace Kelly Ramirez said the program has helped her "not just academically, but also culturally and personally," and warned that "since DI will be getting moved to Hoover, I am forced to drop the program because I will no longer have any kind of transportational option."

Speakers described the DI strand at Stevens as a community asset that supports bilingual learning and local ties. Several parents and students asked the board to consider alternatives to a single-site model, including maintaining multiple strands or creating pathway models so students from Webster, Lafayette and Chavez elementary schools can continue at a nearby middle school. "We requested that you provide an analysis of the attrition rate of DI students from 5th to 6th grade due to the transportation barriers, as well as a comparison of the cost and sustainability for implementation of a single site model versus the DLI program that would have multiple pathways," educator and parent Ines Leighton said.

The board did not take any action on the DI program at this meeting; President Diana Craighead recessed the meeting to closed session after public comment and returned to announce unrelated actions. Parents asked the board to publicly share any staff analysis and the timeline for a final decision so families can plan for the next school year.