Parents, teachers and students urge SFUSD to lift Longfellow Filipino program enrollment cap

Dozens of parents, students, teachers and community groups pressed the San Francisco Board of Education on June 14 to lift an enrollment cap placed on Longfellow Elementary School’s Filipino World Language program.

Speakers from Longfellow and partners including the Filipino Community Center described Longfellow’s program as one of only two elementary Filipino language-and-culture programs in the United States and said consolidating kindergarten and first-grade classes would effectively shrink or end the pathway. “Capping this program at Longfellow infringes on our children’s right to an education that reflects their heritage,” said Nikki Santiago, a Longfellow parent, during the in-person public comment period.

Why it mattered: Commenters — including Longfellow teachers, alumni and current students — said the program supports language acquisition, social-emotional wellbeing and family engagement. Speakers cited practical concerns: forced assignment to another campus (Bessie Carmichael), loss of continuity for students and the program’s role as a cultural bridge for recent immigrants. Several parents and the Longfellow principal, Jennifer Freeman, asked the Educational Placement Center to remove the cap and to allow full kindergarten and first-grade classes for the Filipino program.

What the board heard: Testimony included student voices describing positive learning experiences and alumni describing long-term benefits. The Longfellow principal told the board the site would like to enroll up to 22 students in both kindergarten and first grade Filipino classes and called the cap an equity issue. Community leaders said the cap would disproportionately affect families in the Excelsior and Crocker-Amazon neighborhoods and underserve a growing Filipino-speaking population.

District response and next steps: Speakers asked the board to instruct the Educational Placement Center to lift or revisit the cap and urged clearer communication about placement decisions. Board members and district staff acknowledged they had heard the community’s concerns and noted opportunities to follow up with additional documentation and next steps; the comment period concluded without an immediate ruling in the meeting record. The board received many written comments and was reminded that the district accepts written public comment via boardoffice@sfusd.edu.

Context: Multiple callers tied their request to larger concerns about language access and cultural preservation. Several community organizations urged immediate action so younger siblings of program participants could enroll at Longfellow, and teachers said the program supports school engagement, identity and mental health.