Parents frustrated by Merced County’s closure of Dual Language Academy
Merced County’s Dual Language Academy will close at the end of this school year and families with children in the program have been frustrated over a lack of clarity about their options for next year.
While there are other dual language immersion programs in Merced County, they are not in every district and some only offer limited grade levels.
Miranda Griswold, who has two sons attending the DLI program, said she’s angry that families weren’t told about the budget issues sooner and does not feel that the Merced County Office of Education has offered adequate options for families who want to keep their children in DLI programs.
The school administration announced the dual language program, which is part of the Merced Scholar’s Charter School, would shutter at the end of this school year. The message explained the decision was due to “shifting enrollment patterns (and)... budget uncertainty.”
Enrollment options through the Merced City School District
The Merced County Office of Education and the Merced City School District hosted two parent meetings to share information about the MCSD dual language program and help parents navigate the enrollment process.
The first meeting was two days after parents learned the school would close. The district held another last week at Rudolf Rivera Elementary School and will be holding at least two more informational meetings in the next few weeks.
At the parent meeting at Rivera Elementary, Multilingual Learners Coordinator Veronica Villa presented information on the dual immersion program, including its mission statement and the textbooks used for each subject, and then shared details on the enrollment process.
The only school in the MCSD that offers dual immersion is Don Stowell Elementary, which currently has two DLI kindergarten classes. The program launched in 2025 and a school spokesperson said they will offer first grade next school year.
For families in the attendance boundary for Stowell the process is very straightforward: Students need to be registered at the school office ahead of their first year and then parents must fill out the DLI form and sign a parent commitment form.
If you live in the city of Merced but not in the Stowell boundary, the process still begins by visiting your home school’s office to register for school. From there, you must fill out the “DLI/School of Choice” form on the MCSD pupil service website.
Enrollment in the program is also dependent on how much room is available in the two DLI classrooms, which Villa noted need to be balanced between students who primarily speak English and students who already speak Spanish.
Multiple parents have expressed doubt that there will be room for their children to transfer into the Stowell program based on their conversations with the school administration — and that’s for students who are eligible to transfer in the first place.
Some students left behind
Because the county program offered classes from transitional kindergarten through second grade, there are many kids who just won’t be eligible because their grade level isn’t offered.
Tamika Flores’ daughter, Aliviya, is one of those students. She began at the Dual Language Academy in kindergarten last year and is in first grade now.
“Last year was wonderful,” said Flores, “... within the first … two months, I realized how important the school was and how special, like, the teachers … and the principal.”
Flores admitted that she was nervous enrolling her daughter in the program since Aliviya didn’t know Spanish but has been amazed by how quickly she is learning, noting, “her pronunciation for Spanish words is just awesome.”
Flores would like her daughter to continue in a dual language program, but has yet to find an option that will work for her. She isn’t in the boundary to attend Stowell elementary, but even if she were, the school doesn’t offer second grade in the dual immersion program yet.
“ (A spokesperson for MCSD) let us know that ... at this time, they only have kindergarten, depending on the need.. .(and) what their enrollment may look like that there’s a possibility of them opening at first grade.”
“So already,” Flores added, “that does not help my daughter, because she’ll be going into second grade in fall, and then it doesn’t help my son, who’s going into TK in the fall.”
Flores said she wouldn’t consider enrolling her son anyway, because she would have to drop her children off at different schools in different parts of town.
Other Merced County DLI programs
In addition to the Merced City School District, there are a handful of other school districts in the county that offer dual immersion programs, including the Atwater Elementary School District, Delhi Unified, Planada Elementary, Livingston Union Elementary, and Los Banos Unified.
Griswold and her sons live in Atwater, but are not within the boundary for Juniper Elementary School, which offers the district’s only dual immersion program. She has the option of filling out “school of choice” forms for both of her sons, but there’s no guarantee there will be room for them to attend school outside of her home district.
However, her older son, Rhys, is in second grade now, which is currently the highest grade offered as dual immersion in Atwater.
Griswold expressed frustration with the parent meetings which she said felt like an attempt to appease parents.
“None of our (older) kids qualify for it because they’re not in TK or kinder,” Griswold said.
The Merced Sun-Star reached out to Juniper Elementary School for more information about which grades will be offered next year and how much room might be available, but a school spokesperson could only confirm which grades are currently offered.
