BILINGUAL DEADLINES EXTENDED; A.V. SCHOOL DISTRICTS CONSIDERING OPTIONS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

With extended deadlines to overhaul their bilingual programs under Proposition 227, the Antelope Valley's two largest elementary school districts are still considering what changes they will make.

Since classes already have begun or are starting this week on year-round schedules, the Lancaster and Palmdale school districts can put off compliance beyond the Aug. 2 deadline until their first semester or trimester break this fall.

``We are in the discussion stages. There are several options we could go to,'' said Howard Sundberg, assistant superintendent for educational services for the Lancaster district. ``The underlying thing we want to do is disrupt as little as possible their education.''

Proposition 227, which passed with 61 percent of the vote in the June election, calls for most non-English-speaking children to be placed in a yearlong program to build English fluency and then be transferred into a regular classroom.

Under the measure, which was spearheaded by Silicon Valley businessman and millionaire Ron Unz, parents could request native-language instruction under certain conditions with the approval of school officials.

Schools would need a minimum of 20 parents to ask for a waiver to form a bilingual class per grade level, officials said. If there are less than 20, classes could be combined with another grade with the parents' consent, or students can attend another school where a bilingual class is being offered, officials said.

``There is a list in the law of what has to be proven before a parent and child can qualify for a waiver, for example, a certain amount of English proficiency,'' Palmdale School District Superintendent Nancy Smith said.

In addition to the one-year English immersion program and getting a waiver to continue receiving native-language instruction, parents have a third option of going into a regular, mainstream class, officials said.

Palmdale School District's population of limited-English-speaking students has nearly tripled since 1992 from 1,110 to 3,111 this year - more than 16 percent of its enrollment.

In the Lancaster School District, the number of limited-English speakers has jumped from 735 in 1992 to 1,195 in 1997, or about 9 percent of enrollment.

At the 6,200-student Westside Union School District, limited-English-speaking students make up about 2.8 percent of students, while at Eastside Union School District, 19 percent of its 2,300 pupils are limited-English speakers, the highest in the Antelope Valley.

Among the options being considered by the Lancaster district is for officials to seek a general waiver from the state that would allow the district to continue running its bilingual programs, Sundberg said.

Such a waiver would require approval from Lancaster trustees as well as the state Board of Education, Sundberg said.

``We could show our program has achieved results and has been successful,'' he said. ``We would have to include reasons, background and support data.''

Sundberg said implementing the Unz initiative would cause problems because some bilingual students would have to be uprooted from their year-round school schedule and shifted to the one-year English immersion class.

There is not enough money to offer such a class on each of the four tracks in the year-round schedule, he said.

Palmdale School District officials say they will be able to offer a new ``biliteracy'' program, which has half the instruction in English and half the instruction in the pupil's native language, on a pilot basis at three schools.

The program has a waiting list of 50 students.

``We have to keep track of the instructional minutes in Spanish and the instructional minutes in English,'' said Roger Gallizzi, the district's coordinator of biliteracy programs. ``Classes have to be taught overwhelmingly in English. The board can decide what `overwhelming' means.''

For students enrolled in the one-year program to build English fluency, the Palmdale district will be looking at ways to accelerate their learning of English, possibly through after-school programs or during school breaks, Smith said.

``One year is not very long to become proficient to learn academic subject matters. It's not, This is an apple, this is an orange,'' Smith said. ``We're talking about American history and science - things not recognizable as simple objects.''

The Palmdale district will wait for instructions from the state education department before making any major changes, Smith said.

``We will start out the year with our regular program and see what directives come down and make appropriate changes to stay legal,'' Smith said. ``We don't want to make one set of changes and turn around and make another.''

Although Eastside has the highest rate of limited-English speakers, Superintendent Connie Webb said the district will not make any major changes.

``We were basically teaching students English by teaching English. We were providing primary language support,'' Webb said. ``That's because that is what our parents were requesting.''

Eastside did not offer full-fledged bilingual programs because the district could not find qualified teachers, and the parents wanted their children to be taught in English, Webb said.

The only difference Webb sees is that parents will be notified by letter of the options they have, including requesting native-language instruction. If the district does not offer what parents want, they can transfer to another district, Webb said.

Webb also said students can remain for longer than one year in the English immersion program.

``If the child is not progressing, and it's not reasonable to force the child out into an English class, then the child can continue a second year in the program,'' Webb said.